Dear Parishioners,
Back in ancient times when a king planned to visit a certain town, he sent an "advance man" ahead of him. Because few ancient roads were paved with gravel or stone, the advance man would have the people fill up mud holes and straighten out the paths. Another thing the advance man did was instruct the people in the proper protocol for receiving the king.
In the season of Advent, the Church is the advance man. It focuses our attention on Jesus. It tells us Jesus is coming and discusses how to prepare for Him.
In today's Gospel, John the Baptist was Jesus's advance man. He saw that the roads were prepared and told the people to be kind to one another, just as Jesus teaches us.
As we prepare to celebrate Jesus's coming, we too want to follow Jesus's teaching of kindness to one another. Along with preparing to celebrate Jesus's birth, we're also preparing for Jesus's second coming when we receive our final judgement.
So let's see the church as Jesus's advance man. In our kindness to one another, we're following Jesus's message of love. Then we will be preparing to celebrate Jesus's birth at Christmas. We will also be preparing for His second coming at the end of time.
Sincerely in Christ,
Father Dominick