St. John the Evangelist begins his Gospel with an exhortation from the other St. John – the Baptist. When asked who he was by the priests and Levites sent from Jerusalem to interrogate him, he responded, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord” (1:19-23). He was quoting the prophet Isaiah, who said, “A voice proclaims: In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!” (40:3).
This phrase of the Baptist is richly drawn on in liturgies during this period of Advent. It is a calling to prepare oneself for the coming of the Messiah. It is an exhortation to repent. St. Matthew adds a phrase to John the Baptist’s plea, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (3:2). He is calling his listeners to have a change of heart and conduct – to turn their lives from rebellion to obedience towards God. The Baptist’s plea is both literal and figurative. He spent most of his life as an ascetic preaching in the desert. He was in the lower Jordan Valley when this exchange took place. Those who have been on pilgrimage to the Holy Land know that the land surrounding the Jordan River to the east of Jerusalem is arid and lifeless. On the obligatory excursion down to the Dead Sea, a good guide will point out Bedouins who still live in the area. Other than them, there is not much there. But the biblical meaning is more profound. St. John’s reference to the wilderness suggests that he was calling his listeners to come into the desert. The spiritual meaning of the desert is that it is a place of temptation, but also an oasis for allowing God to speak. I experienced this voice recently. However, I was not in the wilderness of the Judean Desert. I was in a place quite the opposite: the crowded, metropolitan city of Florence – a veritable cultural and artistic mecca. And a secularized desert.
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Bret ThomanCatholic. Franciscan. Married. Father. Pilgrim guide. Writer. Translator. Pilot. Aspiring sailor. Archives
April 2024
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