How Can We Prepare the Way?

While typing away during a typical work day, I had carols and hymns playing on my phone. This is my usual  practice during the Advent and Christmas seasons, as I try to focus my mind and heart on the birth of the Messiah while also pondering His return someday. As I listened to a beautiful rendition of O Come O Come Emmanuel, I couldn’t help but wonder: How can we prepare the way for the Lord? What can we do to get ready for His arrival–not only at Christmas but every day thereafter?

Throughout this Advent season, I kept those questions in the forefront as I listened to the readings and homilies at the Masses. The Gospels that were proclaimed during the last three Sundays seem to offer multiple, yet distinct answers. One common theme was to be watchful and to stay awake and alert, (something that I literally struggle with half the time) (Mark 13:33-37). Another answer that popped up, related to being a messenger of the Lord, kind of like St. John the Baptist as he started his mission along the Jordan River, teaching about repentance and the forgiveness of sins as he baptized the multitudes (Mark 1:1-8). 

That following Sunday’s Gospel really had me intrigued, though, specifically when John the Baptist answered the Pharisees’ question about whether he was the Messiah or the prophet. Rather, he informed them that there is “one among [them] whom [they] do not recognize” (John 1:26 ). 

While all these passages pointed in the same direction–to wait and watch for the Lord and to prepare for His arrival, I wonder will we still recognize Him?

I imagine that part of preparing the way for Christ means searching for and finding Him in the most unlikely places, even in our own backyard. He’s the friend who needs a listening ear and a heart full of compassion. He’s the stranger on the street who asks for directions to the nearest shelter for the night. He’s the elderly, homebound parent who’s overwhelmingly grateful for some conversation that distracts from the mundane. He’s the spouse who mourns the loss of a beloved sibling and needs some understanding from his wife and a bit of patience as he contemplates the new, empty space that’s left behind. And He’s the priest in the confessional who reminds me that my sins have been forgiven and to hold on to the hope that none of us are navigating through this journey alone. 

So how do we prepare the way? We minister to each other and send a message that hope, faith, and love are indeed alive and well. How do we recognize Him in a world that consistently distorts what is good and beautiful? We recognize Christ in one another. For truly, He is with us.