Advent, Preparation, and St John the Baptist

Dear brethren in Jesus Christ:

We have now reached the third Sunday of the holy season of Advent, during which the Church calls upon us to direct our thoughts to the "Advent," or coming, of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

With that wisdom which is from on high, which she has by the constant indwelling of the Holy Spirit, she puts before us in her holy offices during this time, everything that can most vividly remind us of that coming. She brings to our mind, not one only, but three comings of our Blessed Lord: His first coming in meekness and lowliness to save us; His present coming by His grace into our hearts to sanctify us; His last great coming in dreadful power and majesty to judge us.

To use the words of St. Bernard: "In the first coming He comes in the flesh, and in weakness; in the second, He comes into our souls in spirit and in power; in the third, He comes in glory and in majesty." "And," adds the saint, "it is by the second that we pass from the first to the third." That is, it is by His dwelling in our souls by sanctifying grace that we are led from our low earthly condition, which He shared with us, sin apart, in His first coming, to a share in the glory and triumph of His final Advent.

You will already have noticed how, even before the beginning of Advent, on the last Sunday after Pentecost, the Gospel read in the Holy Mass gave us a terrible description of the last Judgment; while on the first Sunday of this season the same lesson was repeated in the words of another of the Evangelists. In the Epistle for that day the Church cried out to us in the words of St. Paul: "Brethren, the hour is come for us to rise from sleep: the night is passed; the day is at hand: let us cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light." In another Epistle, we were told of the "Root of Jesse," who should rise up to rule the Gentiles, and in whom the Gentiles should hope; while the Gospel showed us that same Root of Jesse, the Healer of the Nations, Jesus Christ the Just One, going about doing good, and confirming His Divine Mission by appealing, to His Works: "The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, the poor have the Gospel preached to them."

The Church, then, has a twofold object in appointing this time of preparation and penance: she desires to prepare us for two events-for the worthy keeping of the great festival of Christmas, in memory of our Blessed Lord's first coming, and also for a joyful and confident meeting with the same Lord Jesus at His last coming; and this can only be by preparing ourselves to receive Him now, when He graciously condescends to come into our hearts.

It is quite in keeping with this two-fold purpose that the Church brings before us again, in the Gospel, that wonderful saint of whom we read last Sunday; who was chosen by God to be the fore-runner and herald of His Son at His first coming into this world. For how can we better prepare our hearts to welcome our Divine Savior at Christmas, than by listening to the words and looking at the deeds of St. John the Baptist, of whom it was written, "Behold, I send my Angel before thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee"? (Mal. 3:1). And how can we better prepare for the last Advent, "the great and terrible day of the Lord," than by listening to the great preacher of repentance, with his reiterated cry of warning: "Do penance; for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."

If the preaching and example of the Baptist were fitted to "make straight the way of the Lord" in the hearts of the children of Israel, they are none the less fitted to do the same work in our hearts now. We are the spiritual Israel, the chosen seed, who 'through faith inherit the promises" made "to Abraham and his seed for ever"; and, therefore, the inspired message of the Baptist is as much for us as for those who heard him preach in the desert wilds of Judea.

You are familiar, dear brethren, with the wonderful facts that attended the birth of the forerunner. How that birth was foretold by the Archangel Gabriel: how Zachary, the father of the child, was struck dumb for his want of faith, and remained so till the day of the circumcision of the child. You remember how, his tongue being suddenly loosed, he broke forth into that sublime canticle of praise and prophecy, "Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel" - -Blessed be the Lord God of Israel - because He hath visited and wrought the Redemption of His people. And hath raised up a horn of Salvation-that is to say, a mighty and invincible power of Salvation-for us in the house of David, His servant: "Salvation from our enemies, and from the hands of all that hate us."

And having thus spoken of the Redeemer of Israel, he turned to the child before him, and prophesied, as the Holy Spirit inspired him, his glorious future: "And thou, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, for thou shalt go before the Face of the Lord to prepare His ways; to give knowledge of Salvation to His people, for the remission of their sins" (Luke I, 76-77).

We know how this child of promise was sanctified in his mother's womb by the approach of God Incarnate hidden within His Virginal shrine; and how he kept unsullied through life the grace then bestowed upon him. "And the child grew up," writes St. Luke, "and was strengthened in spirit, and was in the deserts until the day of his manifestation to Israel" This was his preparation for the work he had to do: "He was in the deserts."

Although, coming of a priestly family, he might have assumed the dignity of the priestly office, yet, in obedience to the call of God, he went apart from men, into the wild and rugged hill-country that stretches southward from Jerusalem, and eastward to the desolate shores of the Dead Sea, stricken and blasted by the awful judgment that fell upon Sodom and Gomorrah. There, dwelling in caves and holes of the earth, giving up utterly all the luxuries and conveniences, and what other men would have called the necessities of life, he lived, as St. Matthew tells us, on locusts and wild honey, and clothed himself in a rough garment of camel's hair, with a leather girdle about his waist.

Here, in the wilderness, in lonely communing with God, he learned the lesson he had to teach, and practiced, in a most exalted degree, the penance he was to preach to others. Here, too, he doubtless pondered upon the sayings of the prophets, which foretold his own coming and work, and especially upon those words of Isaias, which he afterward applied to himself: "The voice of one crying in the desert: prepare ye the way of the Lord: make straight in the wilderness the paths of our God. Every valley shall be exalted; and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see that the mouth of the Lord hath spoken" (Isaias 11). Living in this wilderness of high hills and steep boulders, broken by rugged and precipitous gorges, with rough and narrow paths winding their dangerous way among the rocks, these words of Isaias must have been brought home to his soul by the scenes he saw around him.

Among these scenes he meditated on the mission God had given him, and gained strength by prayer and fasting for the work he was to do; to bring down the high hills of pride in the souls of men; to fill up the deep and mired valleys of sensuality and sloth, and to prepare in human hearts by word and by example a straight and even pathway for their Lord.

When his time of preparation was completed, the Baptist sud­denly came forth from his retreat. He came at a time very favor­able for his pnrpose, for it was the Sabbatical year, a year of rest which the Jews kept once in every seven. During this year the land was allowed to lie fallow, and the fruits which it bore of itself were given up to the stranger and the poor. All debts were forgiven, and all slaves set free. Everyone therefore was at liberty to follow the Baptist and listen to his preaching.

His coming pro­duced at once a remarkable effect. All eyes were turned to that thin, rough-clad figure, whose appearance reminded them so strongly of the great Elias who had been caught up to heaven in a chariot of fire from those same fields on the Jordan's banks. All hearts were moved by the holiness and penance which shone out from every feature of the saint. Nor must it be forgotten that God's grace was powerfully and abundantly poured out at that season upon men's hearts, at it always is when He has some special message to deliver to us, or some special call to make upon us, so that we may be helped to answer to His call, and to do our part.

So then, there came to St. John, people of all classes from the surrounding districts, flocking to see and hear, as the news of the great prophet who had arisen spread far and wide over the land. From both sides of the Jordan, near to which the Baptist always stayed to perform his baptisms, they came in eager crowds, "from Jerusalem, from Judea, and from all the country about Jordan," says the Evangelist, "and they were baptised by him in Jordan, confessing their sins."

And all the time, the text of his preaching was very simple: he preached two things; the need of penance, and the near approach of the Kingdom of God: "Do penance, for the Kingdom of God is at hand."

Can we afford, dear brethren, to set aside these words?

Have we not all need of penance? Is not the Kingdom of Heaven near at hand for us? The longest life comes to an end, and death, when­ever it comes, always seems sudden at the last.

Multitudes, especially of the poor and needy, came to St. John, and submitted to his baptism in Jordan, and were cleansed by true inward contrition from the sins which that Baptism had no power in itself to wash away. And they gave good proof of heartfelt sorrow by humbly confessing the sins of their past lives. Among the rest, not to be outdone by the vulgar crowd in any outward religious observances, came certain Pharisees; only to be met by the terrible denunciation: "You brood of vipers, who has showed you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth, therefore, fruit worthy of penance, and think not to say within yourselves 'We have Abraham for our father,' for I tell you, God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham: for now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree, therefore, that
yielded not good fruit, shall be cut down and cast into the fire."

We, dear brethren, must take care that we merit not this severe rebuke. Let us not say to ourselves, "We have Abraham for our father," or rather, "We have the Church for our mother, and all will be well with us," thinking ourselves to be safe without taking trouble, by the observance of certain outward formalities -- going to our duties now and then just to keep within the law; receiving the Sacraments occasionally in a formal way, reciting our prayers without care or attention, and all the time living a life unworthy of our profession as children of the Church; for God can raise up other children to the Church from the very stones; that is, He is able to bring in others from the ranks of heresy and schism to take our place and to take our crown if we prove unworthy of it.

I may not stay, dear brethren, to dwell at length upon the preaching of the Baptist; to show you how, in answer to the anxious cry of the multitude seeking the way of Salvation, he pointed out the plain and straight forward path of daily duty; bidding them amend what was amiss in their daily lives. We must go on to consider the incident related in the Readings and Gospels of this season.

At this period of Jewish history, there still sat at Jerusalem that great national and religious council known as the Sanhedrin, con­sisting of seventy-one members, chosen from the priests, the scribes, and the Ancients, or elders of the people. Their Roman masters allowed to this council a certain remnant of their original power and authority; and, among other things, one of their most important offices was to approve and sanction all religious move­ments within the Jewish Church. The members of this supreme council were for a time indifferent to the preaching of the Baptist. But when the news reached them that this rough, ignorant preacher, as they thought him, had pointed out One to the crowds that fol­lowed him, and had declared "This is He of whom I spake: He that cometh after me is preferred before me," the cquncil began to think that perhaps St. John might have some connection with the Saviour of the People for whom all were looking at that time.

They heard, too, that many took John to be the Messias himself already come. To clear up this doubt, and to find out for certain who this man was that preached and baptised without reference to their authority, they sent some of their members to him, to de­mand an account of himself and his doings. "Who are you?" asked the messengers.

St. John knew that it was in their minds that he might be the Christ, and he had already been called upon to deny this. Therefore, "He confessed, and did not deny; and he confessed, I am not the Christ."

They asked again, "Art thou Elias?"

Again he answered, "No."

"Are you the Prophet?" they then asked, thinking of the great prophet one day to be raised up according to the promise of Moses: "The Lord thy God shall raise up to thee a prophet of thy nation and of. thy brethren like unto me : Him shalt thou hear."

And the Baptist answered also to this question, "No."

"Who are you then, that we may give an answer to the council, whose messengers we are? What account have you to give of yourself?"

"I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord."

What self-abasement, my brethren; what unselfishness! What entire devotion to the one duty of his life! He does not think of his own advancement, nor of claiming any credit. He does not take into account the wonderful graces bestowed upon him from the beginning of his existence. He knows, and he acknowl­edges, that he has but to prepare the way for One mightier than he, that he is only the Bridegroom's friend, not the Bridegroom Himself; that he, the forerunner, must now begin to decrease, while that Great One whom he came to announce, must increase. He is only the humble slave running before the great King to prepare the way for Him. And so he calls himself a "voice" - the sound of a cry, that fades upon the air so soon as it is uttered.

Then they ask him of his Baptism, and by what authority he baptises, since he is neither the Christ, nor Elias, nor the Prophet.

"I baptise with water," he replies, "but there hath already stood among you One Whom you knew not. The same is He that shall come after me, Who is preferred before me, the latchet of whose shoe I am unworthy to unloose."

And, on the next day, the Saviour Himself, coming from His fasting and temptation in the wilderness, arrived at the place where St. John was, Whom, when he saw Him, he pointed out to all, crying, "Behold the Lamb of God: behold Him Who takes away the sins of the world."

Brethren, let us fulfill the Baptist's bidding. That is, let us turn with all our hearts to Him Who taketh away the sins of the world; and is ready and willing to take away our sins also. Let us prepare in our hearts a way for our Lord Jesus Christ, and make His paths straight.

Is it not true that for a long time He has been knocking at the door of our hearts, and we have not opened to Him?

Is it not true that our pride, our self-love, our sensuality and sloth still set up barriers which hinder Him from entering our hearts and working within them the work of grace which His loving Heart desires?

St. John the Baptist points the way; and, as we have seen, he preaches even more forcibly by his example than by his words. We know what we ought to do. The forerunner speaks as plainly to us as he did to the Jews of old. Amend those daily faults; give up those besetting sins; carry out those good resolutions, so often made, so seldom put into action. Give up that amusement or that enjoyment, which sensuality would say is harmless, but which conscience knows to be wrong, or which, at least, has often led to sin. Imitate the grand humility of the Baptist; above all listen to the burden of his message, "Do penance: for the Kingdom of God is at hand."

If we have been negligent of the lessons of this season of preparation and penance, we have still some time left before Christmas comes; and we must at once earnestly beg of the Infant Saviour grace to do those things necessary to prepare our hearts for His coming - so the blessed feast of His Nativity will not find us wanting; and the way will be open within us for those floods of grace which He will pour down upon us at that holy time. So, too, His Second Advent will not find us wanting, and while the wicked are withering away for fear in that day, we shall look up with joy, and shall lift up our heads, because our Redemption is at hand.
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Plain Sermons by Practical Preachers, Vol II
Homily from the 3rd Sunday of Advent by Fr. H.G. Hughes
(© 1916)