Advent and Preparation

Second Sunday of Advent

Matthew 3:1-12

December 8, 2013

“Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths! (Mat 3:3)”

Preparation is an essential part of nature. In the story of Creation, God prepared a perfectly habitable world in five days so that in the sixth day, human beings could comfortably live in the earth. Just imagine if God created man first while the cosmos was still formless and void.  We would certainly be shattered into pieces a second after creation! Such a waste! Or, if we see things in more scientific ways, from the point of view of the Big Bang Theory, we could easily analyze that human beings is an end product of 13.7 billion years of evolution! All started from infinitely small yet unthinkably ‘dot’ that suddenly released a massive amount of energy. It takes billion years and supremely delicate process to arrive at humanity. God prepared for our arrival and He fashioned entire the cosmos for our safety and convenient birth.

As part of nature and created in God’s image, preparation then becomes part of our being human. Young people prepare themselves to turn mature adult through years of education and formation. Students prepare to take the examination through rigorous study and exercises. A priest prepares his Sunday’s homily through a lot of readings and reflections. And the list could go on and on.

Preparation is essential, but nowadays, especially with the fast advance of technologies, we tend to have things short-circuited and instantly done. With smartphones and internet, we could connect to people in very convenient and fast manner. With PC, laptop and other electronic gadgets, we could finish our works in more efficient ways. The faster we get and the more the results we achieve, the better we become. But, it somehow influenced our mentality as we become ‘instant people’ and no longer appreciate the essence of preparation.  A student wants a good grade without rigor of study would cheat during the exam. A man, desires sexual pleasure without commitment, would spend his night in prostitution. A politician, craves for easy money, would patronize culture of corruption.   

Advent session becomes a right moment to restore that beauty of preparation. As John the Baptist, the central figure of our Gospel today, proclaimed, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths! (Mat 3:3)” Preparation takes time, it consumes energy and it is never easy, but without it, we are losing contact with our nature as human beings and furthermore, with God. We need to remember that the omnipotent God turned to be meek and defenseless baby, and this baby had to grow and prepare himself as under babies.

Advent reminds us that we are humans and as humans we need always to prepare. As God became baby and grew through the stages of human life, we are also invited to find Christ in every simple preparation we do in our life.

Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP