2nd Sunday of Advent (Year B)

Sunday, December 7, 2008
St. Clement’s Catholic Church; Saratoga Springs, NY

Isaiah 40: 1 – 5, 9 – 11
Psalm 85: 9 – 10, 11 – 12, 13 – 14
2 Peter 3: 8 – 14
Mark 1: 1 – 8

I had this story all planned to share with you even before the cold and snowy weather came upon us over night. One of the joys of being a Redemptorist is that I have had the privilege to go quite often to our Caribbean Missions. I have preached in a number of our parishes down there and had to attend a number of meetings there as well. One island in particular that I have enjoyed traveling to is the island of Dominica. Dominica is called the Nature Island; there are not many good beaches but the island is full of mountains and rain forests. To get from the airport on the north end of the island to the Redemptorist Retreat House on the south end of the island is about a 20 miles ride that can take anywhere from 90 minutes to 2 hours. I can’t imagine how they built the roads on the island of Dominica, which are about as wide as our main aisle. They had to cut through dense rain forests and blast their way through mountains. Sections that run close to the ocean I am sure they had to fill in to make a more level road. The job of road construction there, and anywhere indeed, is not an easy task.

As we celebrate the Second Sunday of Advent we might call today “Road Construction” Sunday. Our first reading from the prophet Isaiah mentions it: “A voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the LORD! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God! Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low; The rugged land shall be made a plain, the rough country, a broad valley.” (Isaiah 40: 3 – 4) As I mentioned last week, the people of Israel were in exile at the time the prophet was writing. He lifts them up telling them that soon they will be returning home and they must “Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!” (Isaiah 40: 3) The time as coming close for them to return to their homeland and when that day arrived they would have to make a straight path thru the dessert.

Mark mentions a similar thing at the start of his Gospel when he talks about John the Baptist. “A voice of one crying out in the desert: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.” (Mark 1: 3) John is that voice that was preparing the way for the coming of Jesus Christ. He appears on the scene to tell the people that they too needed to do some “road construction.” The road construction that both Isaiah and John the Baptist are talking about is not the physical type where we blast thru mountains and cut down trees to clear a path. The type of road construction they are talking about is the spiritual type – where you and I remove the obstacles, the road blocks that keep the path for the coming of Jesus into our hearts cluttered.

That is what the season of Advent is about for us -- a time to look at our lives and see where we are blocking the coming of Christ into our hearts and our lives. While not a physical road construction there are a number of obstacles and road blocks in our lives that we must tear down. Our sinful behavior needs to be torn down to allow for a straight path for the coming of Christ. We put up obstacles of greed, gossiping, jealousy and the like that are like high mountains that needed to be blasted away. This “Road Construction” Sunday is a time for us to take a look at our road blocks. It’s a gradual process of cleaning out the detours. Again, I refer you to the Advent Wreath – two candles are now lit and we might want all four to be blazing bright to show that Christmas is almost here. But we need patience, we need to take our time. We need to make straight the path in our hearts so the God may enter. Even when we finally have cleared a path we need to keep working at it. If you notice that road construction never seems to be finished. Once the potholes are filled in it seems like it no time they are back doing the same work. That’s the beauty of Advent that we celebrate year after year after year. Our “road repairs” are never completely finished. Once we have straightened the path for the Lord sometimes are sinful behaviors revisit us and we need to do some more road repairs. It is a never ending task and a tiring one as well.

Have you often seen a road crew working on road repairs and wonder why one person is working, one is directing traffic, another is leaning on their shovel and another is drinking a cup of coffee? Because road construction is tiring business – you can’t be about it for eight straight hours without taking a break. You can’t do road construction by yourself without the help of others. In our task of spiritual road construction we too need help. That help comes to us in the way of our God who is ever ready to help us. As we tear down the mountains of our sinful behaviors it is our God who comes to us and fills in the holes. If we allow him God can give us the gifts of His Spirit to help level and smooth things out. He fills in the holes we have created with his gifts of wisdom and understanding, with his gifts of courage and fear of the Lord. Our valleys and rough spots are filled up with his gifts of joy, peace, love and happiness.

“A voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the LORD! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God! Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low; The rugged land shall be made a plain, the rough country, a broad valley.” (Isaiah 40: 3 – 4) This is the beautiful message of “Road Construction” Sunday as we celebrate the Second Sunday of Advent. Our God has indeed already come with his birth as a Babe in Bethlehem. We continue to prepare his coming now only on Christmas Day but on every day of our lives. He wants to be part of us, he desires to live in our hearts, our souls our very lives. But we need to do some work. I am sure that those of you who are expecting visitors over the Christmas Holidays are already busy preparing things around the house. You clean out the clutter, you straighten up the guest room, and you clean the ring from around the bath tub. You are making a nice place to receive your guests.

Take time to get ready to receive Jesus Christ as your guest. Whatever road block is up, may we have the courage to begin to tear it down. Wherever there are areas in our lives that need to be smoothed out and straightened, let us allow our God to help. We still have some time this Advent Season to get things in order. Today is “Road Construction” Sunday and it is tiring work that will never end. But think about why we are doing it – so that our God can have a straight path into our lives. That’s what Advent is all about – cleaning away our sinful behaviors so that the Lord can enter. That’s what happened at the first Christmas and hopefully it will happen to us again this Christmas and every days of our lives!

AMEN!