By Fr Antony Christy, SDB.
The Ground, those around and where we’re bound…
Second Sunday in Advent – December 10, 2023
Isaiah 40: 1-5,9-11; 2 Peter 3: 8-14; Mark 1: 1-8
All of us wish to see a change, a change for the better, a change for a more peaceful world, a change for a happier life – a change around us, a change in the world! We know very well that this change out there in the world, cannot come without a change from within us! But the most disturbing fact is that, even if I change, it does not guarantee a change in the world, I need to wait. These are the complexities with which we live the problems and challenges of every day. It is against this background that we continue to reflect on the prospects of the Reign of God this advent. Last Sunday, the first of Advent, we were instructed by the Word to Expect the Reign. We reflected too saying, this expecting is not a passive waiting, but an active working towards. That is exactly the message of this Sunday: Advent is Preparing the Reign.
Preparing the Reign: The fundamental task given us during Advent is Preparing! We are speaking here of Preparing the Reign – it is no error! We mean to phrase it that way – preparing the Reign, because it is not merely preparing for the Reign, but preparing the Reign. We are not called to prepare for the Reign, as if we have nothing directly to do with the Reign which comes from elsewhere and we prepare ourselves to be part of it when it comes. That is not the mind of Christ. We need to prepare the Reign, build up the Reign, establish the Reign, wherever we are.
Psuedo Preparation: One danger that rests is that the kind of preparation we do can be a psuedo preparation!
What do we mean by that? Just imagine the preparations that take place in our surroundings when a VIP is about to visit the place. There are prominently two things that happen – either what is there is covered up not to be seen or what is not there is fakely done up to be seen as present. Are we not familiar with cases where an entire slum was covered up with an overnight barricade or compund, because a dignitary was passing by that way – that is the former type. And of course we know of the roads that appear overnight for the VIP to ride on, only to break away into slithers immediately after the visit – this is the latter type. Both of these are psuedo preparations which are makeshift, eyewash, make believe, fake and deceptions, without any real change underlying. Instead, even these visits could become opportunities for a forging ahead, for strengthening of infrastructure, for empowerment of people and the localities, if only the preparations are farsighted and authentically motivated. Therefore the question remains, what kind of preparation is the right preparation – that of the ground, of those who are around, mindful of where we are bound!
The Ground: Literally today we see the Word, the first reading and the Gospel, speak of this preparation of the ground – that the highways be made straight, the valleys be filled in, the mountains and hills be laid low, that the cliffs become plains and the ridges become valleys… that there be new heavens and a new earth! The preparation of the ground is the change in the situations – that the situations of inequality be straightened out, that the circumstances of jealousy and hatred be calmed, that the experiences of violence and aggression be tranquilised, that the predicaments of povert and misery be challenged. That is what precisely means preparing the Reign… without these changes the Reign cannot emerge! The sad and the crucial fact is, this cannot happen automatically. It can happen only where there is another preparation that is taken forward – the preparation of those around.
Those Around: Preparation therefore is not merely of the terrain or of the macro system! It is primarily a change in the hearts, minds and the spirits of those around, beginning from each one of us. That is what the image of John the Baptist stands for today – telling each of us: straighten your hearts, flatten your egos, lift up your drooping spirits, smoothen your fractious priorities, challenge your callous religiosity and prepare for the day of the Lord. Prepare, not in terms of this Christmas, making an annual confession and dropping a few gifts into the hands of some sporadic needy – but in terms of a change of mentality, a reshaping of habits and redefining of your priorities and principles, to become truly Reign-persons and Reign-communities. That is the only way the Reign of God shall come, as we pray every day – ‘your kingdom come’.
Where we’re bound: The preparation therefore needs a clear pre-requisite and an absolute pro-sightedness. Both of these refer to the same – the Reign; as the letter of St. Peter reminds us – the new heavens and the new earth. The Reign should not be understood as a place little better than what we have today. It is not something that is slightly touched up from what we have managed so far. It is a something new! It is something totally different! It is something that the Lord alone can give – where the wolf will live with the lamb, the lion will eat straw with the ox, the cow will feed with the bear, and a small child will lead them all (Isa 11: 6,7). An entirely new life, that is the Reign that is promised to us and that is the Reign we are called and commissioned to prepare. No, it is not an utopia! It is a call. It is a commission. It is a mandate that we need to occupy ourselves with, all our life! Possible that we may not succeed? May be! But the Lord will succeed in God’s own time, and we are called to do our bit. That is what the Advent reminds us of: our Christian commitment to prepare the Reign.
Preparing the Reign means to prepare the ground, to prepare those who are around, mindful of where we are bound – above all, to begin with preparing the terrain of our hearts and our souls not towards some cosmetic touch ups, but towards a profund renewal in our conscience and commitment. O Lord that we may see, you and your Reign come!
Fr Antony Christy is a Salesian Priest from 2005, who has a Masters in Philosophy (specialisation in Religion) and a Masters in Theology (Specialisation in Catechetics). He has completed his doctoral research in Theology at Salesian Pontifical University, Rome. Walking with the Young towards a World of Peace and Dialogue is the passion that fires him on.