The Fourth Sunday in Advent brings a heightened sense of anticipation as we enter the final week of preparations for the celebration of Christ's Birth. In Philippians 4:4-5, St. Paul exhorts believers to rejoice and live virtuous lives because "The Lord is at hand." Our Lord Jesus Christ is always near in several ways, but we have a special awareness of His coming when we celebrate His Incarnation.
The Gospel from John 1:19-28 focuses on John the Baptist's preparatory work for the Messiah or Christ. The prophet John in the wilderness is the forerunner who prepares the way by calling people to repentance, cleansing, and hope in the anticipated redeemer. Besides calling the people of first-century Palestine, John the Baptist still calls us to prepare for Christ to come anew into our lives.
In our time, people often seem to find it difficult to prepare for Christmas in a spiritual way. There are so many distractions from everyday life and from secular holiday madness. At times, even Advent devotions or plans for reading Scripture may become just another December task. However, we do need to pause. reflect, and be more open to Christ to come into our lives again and again. So whatever else we are doing, let us find some moments throughout the day to ask Jesus to have mercy and come among us!
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