How will you prepare the way of the Lord?
A Christmas Eve meditation on Luke 1:67-79
In his prophecy Zechariah speaks of the witness that his son John will make in anticipation of the Messiah. He will go before the Lord to prepare his way. He will give his people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of sins.
Today, what testimony will you and I make with our lives? To what values and beliefs will we be witness? The next few hours will be very busy for most of us, and there’s no better moment than now to summon up the example of John the Baptist.
If today we harden our hearts, then we certainly do witness to a set of core values. If we make today a display of short tempers, a day of huffs and puffs of self-importance, a day of non-negotiable grandstanding over all sorts of trivial things, then our celebration of Christmas will be a hollow postlude.
If today you and I go before the Lord to prepare his way, if our lives offer even the faintest glimpse into the salvation which Jesus Christ brings, then John the Baptist will have accomplished a great deal in us.
Fr. Eric Hollas, OSB, is a monk of Saint John’s Abbey. He works in Institutional Advancement for Saint John’s University. He blogs at www.monkschronicle.wordpress.com.
It is so easy to “grandstand over all sorts of trivial things”. Thank you for your beautiful reminder! Blessed Christmas to you and all readers of Pray, Tell….
Beautiful!! I wonder if the preachers on this blog would be interested in posting their Christmas homilies. I will hear one homily 4 times,( and it will be very good) but I would like to hear/see another’s thoughts and prayers on the mystery of our God incarnate.
Thank you for helping to prevent some words and acts of impatience, as we attempt to “make our house fair, as we are able”…