Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.
Today we move into the 2nd Sunday of Advent and the theme for the 2nd Sunday is “Peace”. Strangely the readings do not sound much of peace to me but a more of a conversion and preparation of heart but after further reading, I guess there is a slight connection.
In the 1st reading, we have a proclamation from the Prophet Isaiah about the coming of the Messiah who will take care of His flock. In the 2nd reading, St Peter writes about the day of the Lord’s return coming like a thief in the night when everyone least expects it. In the gospel, we have the appearance of John the Baptist who comes to fulfil the prophecy made by Isaiah in today’s 1st reading.
John the Baptist is a very important figure and we can tell because he is mentioned by all four of the gospel writers before the start of Jesus’ ministry. John the Baptist calls out to all, a call to repentance.
How then is peace related to repentance?
The story of St Bernadette and the miraculous spring of Lourdes should not be something that is alien but I’ll just write it here anyway.
Bernadette had a vision of a Lady. When she went back to the village and told the villagers. From her description, the villagers came to realise that the Lady was in fact, Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary. The villagers then pestered her to ask Our Lady for intercessions and for healing for the children of the village.
The next time Bernadette encountered Our Lady, the villagers were waiting anxiously for her response.“So did you ask Our Lady? What did she say?”
“Penance.”
The villagers thought they misheard Bernadette so they asked her a second time, “What was it that Our Lady said?”
“Penance.”
Thinking that Bernadette might have been a little hard of hearing, they asked her a third time, “Bernadette, what did Our Lady say about healing for our children?”
“Penance.”
And so the story goes, the villagers dismissed Bernadette as a lunatic, especially when she started eating the dirt and plants and drinking muddy water. But lo and behold, the fountain which brought forth healing sprung up from that very location.
The story of St Bernadette should tell us a very important point: Healing cannot take place without a conversion of heart. It is only through penance that healing can take place.
So after all this, what has penance, conversion of heart got to do with attaining peace? In continuously preparing our hearts and purging ourselves of everything that is evil and unsightly in the face of God, we attain peace knowing that no matter when Jesus returns, He will find us unblemished and unmarked, the way He left us after our baptisms. Am I going to heaven? Am I saved? All these questions no longer bother us because we know clearly what we have done and are at peace.
As we move closer towards Christmas, let us then continue to wait and prepare our hearts.
Prayer for the day: Lord, You sent John the Baptist to proclaim repentance. Help us now to turn back to You.
