December 1997

Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

(Luke 3:4)

For this season of Advent here is a new Word of Life that we are invited to live. Luke took it from the Prophet Isaiah, the prophet of consolation. The first Christians linked it to John the Baptist, who came before Jesus.

In the time leading up to Christmas, the Church presents us with the person of John the Baptist and invites us to rejoice, because he is like the messenger announcing the coming of the king. The time is near when God will fulfill his promises, forgive sins and grant salvation.

Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

While this Word of Life is an expression of joy, it is also an invitation to give a completely new direction to our life, to change the way we live. John the Baptist invites us to prepare the way of the Lord - but what is this way?

Jesus' coming was proclaimed by John the Baptist, but Jesus himself spent some time in the desert before entering public life to begin his ministry. That was his way. There in the desert he found deep union with his Father but he also faced temptations, identifying himself with all of us. And he came out of it all victorious. We will see Jesus follow this path again in his death and resurrection. Since Jesus followed his own path to the end, he himself became the 'way' for us who are still on the journey.

He is the way we must follow to fulfill our vocation as human beings, which is to enter into full communion with God.

Each of us is called to prepare the way for Jesus, who wants to enter into our life. We must, therefore, straighten the paths of our life so that he can come in.

We have to prepare the way for him, removing every obstacle one by one: those arising from our limited way of seeing things and from our weak will.

We need courage to choose between a way of our own and his way for us, between our will and his will, between a programme we want to follow and the one thought of by his all powerful love.

And once we have made the decision, we have to work to make our own obstinate and wayward will conform to his.

How? Those who have become fulfilled Christians teach us a method which is good, practical and intelligent. We should do it now, in the present.

In each moment we can remove stone after stone from the path so that it is no longer our will living in us, but his.

In this way we will have lived the Word of Life:

Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

Chiara Lubich