Prayer

Gospel For This Week  

Luke 3:1-6  All people shall see the salvation of God. 

In the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar’s reign, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judaea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of the lands of Ituraea and Trachonitis, Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, during the pontificate of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. He went through the whole Jordan district proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the sayings of the prophet Isaiah: 

A voice cries in the wilderness; 

Prepare a way for the Lord, 

make his paths straight. 

Every valley will be filled in, 

every mountain and hill be laid low, 

winding ways will be straightened 

and rough roads made smooth. 

                                                                 And all mankind shall see the salvation of God. 

Gospel Reflection 

The second and third weeks of Advent this year focus particularly on the role of John the Baptist as the one who prepared the way for Jesus and announced his coming. It continues the theme of preparation that was begun last week, but still, rather than preparing for the birth of Jesus, we are exploring the wider theme of preparation. The gospel writer includes a quote from Isaiah in which the prophet says, ‘Prepare a way for the Lord.’ (Often translated as ‘Prepare the way of the Lord’.) The application of this passage to John the Baptist is a logical one. This gospel emphasises that John was preaching ‘a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins’. Throughout the gospel of Luke, the recognition of sinfulness and the desire to repent and seek forgiveness is the prelude to receiving God’s favour. 

This gospel makes it clear that one way in which we can prepare a way for the Lord is to recognise our faults and failings and to seek forgiveness. It is only through such repentance that we can make ourselves receptive to the love of God. The only preparation of the way that is necessary for the Lord is a personal preparation to be receptive. We are absolutely assured of God’s love. The problem is that we often feel that we are undeserving of that love or are unable to receive it. When we are called to ‘Prepare a way for the Lord’ it is a call to prepare a way in our own hearts – to break down the barriers that we have put up; to clear the obstacles that we have placed in the path. God’s love will find a way! We simply make the way easier for ourselves to recognise God’s love if we ‘Prepare a way’. 

Living the Gospel – Make way! 

Today’s gospel is a reminder to us that Advent is a season of preparation. In this case, the preparation is all about making way for the love of God in our lives. The love of God surrounds us all the time. It’s like a rapidly flowing stream and sometimes we have placed boulders in the stream that send the water flowing around us. The call to make a way for the Lord is a call to clear the rocks out of the stream; to remove the obstacles that are directing the love of God around us and allow it instead to flow directly through us. 

Q. In what ways can holding on to our faults and failings get in the way of allowing God into our lives? 

Q. Why is it so hard to forgive ourselves when we are assured God's forgiveness is there for the asking? 

Q. What image captures for you the idea of ‘preparing a way’? 

Q. How has reflection on this week's gospel enhanced your understanding of Advent?