As we see from the two candles lit on the wreath in front of me, Advent is well underway; how time flies!  And, while the rest of the world seems already to be in the Christmas spirit, we first spend these forty days of Advent preparing to celebrate Christmas which, as most of the world seems to have forgotten, is the celebration of God coming in our midst in the person of Jesus Christ.  

In fact, during this sacred season we are given the opportunity to reflect on the three comings of Christ – in history, in our midst today and at the end of time.  As we continue the sacred season of Advent, we hear in today’s readings references to all three comings of Christ: in history – as foretold by Baruch in today’s first reading, in our midst today – as we hear St. Paul compliment the community in Philippi in today’s second reading, and at the end of time – as we hear St. John the Baptist foretell in today’s Gospel.

Today’s readings offer hope – hope grounded in the history of God with his people and hope for a way forward in difficult times.  We all need to hear that hope today, don’t we?

In the first reading, we see Jerusalem, depicted as a mother, who has been mourning the loss of her children because they have been exiled to Babylon.  We understand the sorrow of a mother who waits, powerless to relieve the suffering of her children so far away.  Yet this reading is one of hope. The prophet announces that the exile is coming to an end.  The cloak of God’s justice replaces the mother’s robe of mourning.  She is called to go up on the mountaintop to see her children making their way led by the light of God’s glory as he leads his people back in joy.  And, he will level the mountains and fill the gorges to make the way easy for their return.

The Gospel uses similar images of making the mountains and hills low and every valley filled to introduce the mission of John the Baptist.  But first, Luke makes sure we know that John’s call came in the midst of messy human history.  He names the political “Who’s Who,” starting at the top with Tiberius Caesar, then Pontius Pilate, Herod Antipas and his brother Philip, sons of Herod the Great.  Then, he lists some of the religious figures of the day: the high priests Annas and Caiaphas.  Politicians and religious leaders – both John the Baptist and Jesus would suffer at their hands.  Most of the powerful and wealthy were not friends of John or Jesus then just as they are not now.  We wait in a messy world ruled by power and money and greed, short-sighted solutions rather than long-term goals.  Not a lot has changed.

But, we can still be people of hope because true hope resides in those who are ruled by Jesus, the Prince of Peace.  In today’s Gospel, we hear of John the Baptist in the desert, calling for repentance – that is, turning away from everything that keeps us from following Jesus.  Remember, repentance does not speak only of being sorry for our sins.  Repentance speaks of turning around, changing direction.  John the Baptist calls us to fill in the valleys of our sins and make low the mountains and hills of our pride and greed so that we can clear the path to welcome Jesus who wants to be born into our hearts today just as truly as he was born in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago.

And notice where the word of God came to John the Baptist; it was in the desert.  A desert is place where we can get away from the hustle and bustle of our world but it is also a hostile environment.   The desert is a place where you can clear your head but it is also where you become aware of your most basic needs: food and water and shelter from the heat of the day and the chill of the night.  It is in the desert that we must be especially clear-headed to survive.  This Advent season is a time for us to enter into the desert of our lives and become more clear-headed about our deepest need – union with God. 

As we become more aware of our need for God in our lives, we can then recognize God present in our midst today.  The passage that we hear from St. Paul’s letter testifies to that.  His affection for the community at Philippi is obvious.  The faithful community that he had established there has accepted the invitation to live the gospel that St. Paul had preached to them.  We hear Paul encourage this strong community, telling them that his prayer is that their love may increase in knowledge so that they may be pure and blameless as they prepare for the day when our Lord would return.

We are called to do the same.  We, who have come to recognize the importance of God in our lives – after all, that’s why we’re here today – are called to live in the tender love and mercy that God showed to the ancient Israelites – as we heard in the first reading – and to the Jewish people in the person of his son, Jesus – as we heard in the Gospel today.  We are constantly called to inner transformation so we can participate ever more in Christ’s ongoing transformation of the world.  That’s what we are called to do during these 40 days of Advent and, indeed, throughout our lives as we await the third and final coming of our Lord, when he comes to judge the living and the dead, and all the faithful will see the salvation of God.