Christ sent John the Baptist to announce his first coming 2000 years ago, because he wanted the people of Israel to be ready to receive him. He was coming to bring them new hope, forgiveness, joy, interior peace, meaning and fruitfulness - all the benefits of Redemption and grace. In Advent, we remember that first coming, in order to thank God for it.
But we also re-live that coming in the "today" of our own lives. This Christmas, Christ wants to make a new surge of grace in the world, in the Church, and in each one of our lives. He wants to keep pouring out those benefits of Redemption. And he wants us to be ready to receive this year's new surge of grace - he doesn't want us to miss out on it. And so, through the liturgy, he sends his messenger once again to teach us how to get ready.
Clearing the way for Christ to enter more deeply into our society and our lives means, first of all, repenting. To repent is to turn away from selfish behavior patterns. To repent means to acknowledge our sins. After all, how can we have room in our hearts for the coming of a Savior unless we are aware of our need to be saved?
But that's only the first step. Preparing for Christ's coming also involves positive action, it means "bearing good fruit." Active, self-forgetful service towards our neighbor shows that our repentance is real. What good is acknowledging our selfishness and sin unless we also decide to leave that sin behind, and then make concrete actions to carry out that decision?
If we do these two things, repent and reform, we will be ready to experience the joys of the coming Kingdom in a fresh way this Christmas, just as Christ wants us to.
Benefits of His Coming - St Lawrence and Interior Peace
The First Reading reminds us of all the blessings that God has in store when we stay close to him. It uses vivid language to describe the perfect justice, peace and harmony of life in the Kingdom of God. It shows wolves and lambs entertaining each other, lions eating hay and living in peace with cattle, the utter destruction of ruthless and wicked people... These are descriptions of the world as it will be when Christ's redemption reaches its fulfilment. But it is also a description of what happens inside our souls when we let Christ rule there, as all the saints have done so well. When we look at their example, we are amazed again and again by their uncanny ability to maintain interior peace in the midst of the most stressful situations.
Take St Lawrence, for instance, a deacon in Rome in the 200's, when it was still illegal to be a Christian. During one of the waves of persecution, the emperor arrested the pope and had him put to death. Then he arrested St. Lawrence and ordered him to give all the Church's wealth to the imperial treasury.
The next day St Lawrence showed up with the poor, the widows and the orphans who the Church was supporting, and said, "Here are our treasures." The emperor, who had been expecting golden vessels and jewel- studded chalices, was furious.
He sent St Lawrence to death by being roasted alive. But even while he was burning on the grill, his heart was at peace. Eyewitnesses actually recorded him as saying to the guards soon after his torture had begun, "This side is done now; I think you can turn me over."
When we let Christ rule in our hearts, his strength, peace and wisdom become our strength, peace and wisdom.
(By the way, this is why St Lawrence is the official patron saint of football players; he died on the gridiron.)