“Prepare the way of the Lord,

make straight his paths…”

Two weeks ago, I attended the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis from November 18-20. It was an incredible experience to be in a huge stadium with approximately 10,000 youths. It was a gathering of faith, hope, love, friendship, blessing, and joy. This conference drew the attendants closer to God during these special days with many inspiring moments and significant activities, such as peaceful hours of adoration and prayer, meaningful time of reconciliation, powerful words of testimony, and friendly meetings of many different groups. These moments and activities contributed to strengthening the Catholic identity, deepening faith, meeting new friends, having a memorable experience, rekindling the flame of love, and creating internal changes for many youths. This change is also a call for the faithful in the second week of the Advent season.

One full week of Advent has already passed. One more candle of Advent has been lit. Just one week ago, the Church began some significant liturgical changes, which were meant to introduce the beginning of a new liturgical year of the Church. We have already entered into the second week of the Advent season. Through today’s readings, more light from the Gospel has been shed upon us and we are more aware of the need for change within. One of the keywords in the second Sunday of Advent is “change.” Indeed, the outward changes of the Advent season continue to remind us of how we are called during this holy season to change within us. These changes are so enriching and inspiring as well. Yet, they are external. They are changes that we can see with our eyes, hear with our ears, and touch with our hands. Nevertheless, what the readings of the second Sunday of Advent really call us is to change within, that is, a radical change that will transform us into heralds of Christ. Hence, as we march into the second Sunday of Advent, we pay attention to the call for personal preparation beyond the external decorations we set up around us. The ideal preparation is not the Christmas tree nor the images of Santa around our living spaces. The journey is within the heart, and that is where we shall meet the Lord.

This journey enables us to become truly “transformed” within through the saving grace of Christ, the Son of God, and the promised Messiah. The kind of change that we are called to practice each and every day during the Advent season is the kind of interior renewal. This will actually configure us to Christ more perfectly, interiorly, and deeply within our very being. Changing within makes us authentic heralds of Christ and enables us to make Christ’s presence known and felt by all we meet. Advent is the season of preparation, but it is an internal and spiritual preparation. In this season, God desires to do something new inside us. God desires for something in the interior of our lives to be made new. Through the changes within us, we can make Christ’s message easy to hear, touch, and see in a powerful way for all of our brothers and sisters. With renewed interior strength we can change hatred to love, violence to peace, and selfishness to generosity.

In today's Gospel, we hear a message of change within and repentance; however, that message comes to us, not in the comfortable places of our homes and families. It comes to us in the wilderness. We are in a wilderness. We live in uncertain and difficult times. We are struggling with financial issues. We have members who have lost their jobs. We are in a time of fear and disappointment from the Covid-19 pandemic. We are in danger of division in families and communities. We are at the risk of indifferent hearts for the poor in our society. In this wilderness and in this world, the call of the prophet Isaiah comes to us again: “Comfort, comfort my people. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem.” That is also the comfort of our God, who lives deep in our lives, even when we do not think about it, even if we may not believe it, even if our fears blind us to that presence. May this Advent be for us a word of comfort in the midst of the wilderness. When we show real love, kindness, mercy, and a spirit of forgiveness, we are announcing the truth that Christ is with us.