Practice makes perfect, or so we sometimes hear. Today the Church offers us another “p” word on the path to perfection… “preparation.” The entire season of Advent is really about preparation. We are preparing for the coming, the “Advent,” of the Lord. But how do we prepare? In today’s gospel, John the Baptist gives us some advice.
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” We often think of repenting with the more penitential season of Lent. Yet John urges us to “prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.” The biggest pothole in our road to God is sin. So, if we want to prepare for the coming of the Lord, we need to fix up our highway. We need to repent.
This Sunday is also December 8th, the day on which we normally celebrate the Immaculate Conception of Mary (transferred this year to Monday the 9th). Since preparation for the coming of the Lord involves clearing out sin, Mary is the perfect example. God prepared her by preserving her from all stain of sin from the first moment of her life, at her conception in the womb of her mother. God prepared Mary, but he also prepares you. He is coming. What are you doing this Advent to be prepared?