LAY LOW THE HIGH MOUNTAINS, FILL UP THE DRY VALLEYS AND FILL YOUR HEARTS WITH JOY BECAUSE CHRIST IS ON HIS WAY. (Homily for Sunday of the 2nd Week in Advent, Year C.)


Bible Study: Baruch 5, 1 to 9.  Philippians 1, 4 to 11. And Luke 3, 1 to 6.


Today is the Second Sunday of Advent, Christmas is nearer to us now than ever before. Preparations are now in full gear, everything is on the way. I can see some Christmas decorations already coming up and extra lights even in our streets. As you would agree with me, if all we do to prepare for Christmas are merely physical and material, Christmas may come and go like any other day with no extra hour but that we may have the very best Christmas ever, the church today presents us with character of John the Baptist and his great voice crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” Luke 3, 4 to 6.

The words of John the Baptist today not only come as a fulfilment to the words of Baruch which we find in the first reading, they also highlight the steps we must take to have a spiritually fulfilling Christmas where the baby Jesus himself is born again in our hearts and lives.


STEP ONE: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

Is there a way to invite Jesus into your heart? What can you do to make Jesus a permanent guest in your home? Are there certain books, movies, pictures or magazines in your house that would be unwholesome for Jesus? Why not take them out today and replace them with those that would draw your mind and attention solely to Jesus!

Remember, Jesus himself said in Matthew 18, verse 20: “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” How often do you gather your family around to pray? What has happened to joint and community prayer in our homes, and neighbourhoods? Do you really want to prepare a way for Jesus to come, then this is the time to intensify your prayer life. You cannot be keeping malice with someone and still expect the person to come and visit you and stay with you. It doesn’t work that way. If you really want to have the best Christmas ever, then this is a time to withdraw like John the Baptist to a desert for prayers. This is a time to renew our commitment to a deeper relationship with God.

Preparing a way for the baby Jesus entails that we strengthen our Love for one another. Nothing attracts God as much as love. Where there is true love, there is God. And God never stops working great wonders in and environment of love. This is why St. Paul prays for us in the second reading saying: “And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, Philippians 1, 9 to 10.

The opposite of Love is hatred and when there is hate, bitterness, anger and sadness in our hearts, we literally drive God away from our presence or let me put it this way, when there is hate, bitterness and animosity in our hearts, we literally drive ourselves way from God and right into the devil’s arms. The difference between hell and heaven is that those in hell have been hurt and they allowed the pain in their hearts stay for so long that it has become a flame burning their whole bodies while those in heaven have been hurt but because they forgave, they no longer remember the pain in their hearts and are forever in a state of blissfulness.

As we celebrate the Jubilee year of mercy, this is a time for us to practice the works of mercy, chief amongst which is FORGIVENESS. Christ cannot live in a heart that is merciless. Christ cannot be born into a heart that never forgives, a heart that continues to recant the past misdeeds of others, a heart that seeks for revenge, a heart that cannot let go. Unforgiveness is like holding certain people as captives in your heart and by so doing turning your heart into a prison where you yourself as the jailer is also forced to live according to prison conditions. Christ cannot enter into a prison-heart. Free the prisoners today and I bet you, this would be your best Christmas ever.


STEP TWO: Every Valley shall be filled.

A valley is as symbol of lack. It is space that needs to be covered. The valleys in our lives are those virtues that we ought to have developed but are still lacking. Our valleys represent our dark sides, our secret thoughts and emotions which are always hidden under the shadows of the surrounding hills. These are those things that people are not aware about us, our bad habits, our hidden faults and vices. Our valleys are those dangerous pot-holes in our character that people do not see immediately until they drive into it and end up damaging their cars.

We know where our valleys are located. We know those things we like to do in secret away from the view and knowledge of others, we know that these are the very things that get exposed if Christ who is himself light should come into our hearts. Jesus himself pointed out to Nicodemus: “And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God.”  John 3, 19 to 21.

Do you have a valley in your life? A secret sinful relationship you are keeping? Are there things you are aware of which you know you would not like to be said about you on National Television? Why not fill up that valley today. Why not drop that vice, that bad habit, that evil deed known to you alone and just allow the light of Christ shine through?


STEP THREE: Every Mountain and Hill Shall be Brought Low.

While valleys may represent those hidden secrets we keep, mountains and hills represent those that we like to show. The sin of Pride readily come in here as a primary example of mountains in our lives. When we carry ourselves like gods and refuse to stoop down to the needs of people suffering around us, we become mountains (that is, stumbling blocks), even to ourselves and we are unable to welcome Christ into our lives. When we consider certain human beings as less than nothing in our sight simply because they do not have as much as we do or because we stand to gain nothing from them, we are turning ourselves into mountains.

True worship of God requires humility. To worship God is to acknowledge that one cannot survive on his or her own. To worship God entails that we understand our dependency on God. It is not for us to give God instructions in the name of prayer and get angry with him when he refuses to run our errands or when we do not see immediate results. According to book of proverbs: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud.” Proverbs 16, 18 to 19. 


STEP FOUR: And the Crooked Shall Be Made Straight, and the Rough Ways Shall Be Made Smooth.

The cooked ways and rough ways in our lives are our acts of deception and lies. Our refusal to be straightforward and sincere. The best preparation for Christmas my dear friends is to resolve right here and right now that never more will you ever tell a lie! The best preparation for Christmas my dear friends is to resolve right here and right now that never more will you ever tell a lie! The best preparation for Christmas my dear friends is to resolve right here and right now that never more will you ever tell a lie!

As a result of telling lies, some of us have become so cooked that we have made our hearts totally inhabitable to Jesus who is himself the prince of truth. Do you know that God hates lies? With every lie we tell, we actually reject him and align with Satan, the prince of liars. In John 8, 44 Jesus drives home a very strong point that should serve as an antidote to telling of lies. He said: “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”


FINALLY: Rejoice and Be Happy.

The natural outcome of a proper preparation for Christmas following these four steps above is joy. Try it out and see. Prepare a way for Jesus in your heart, cover up the valleys, bring down the mountains, straighten he crooked lines and there is no way you will not be happy. Only a heart that truly receives Christ understands what it means to be happy. The happiness that the world offers is fake, short lived and very expensive but that of Christ is real, free and always available.

Let us Pray:
Lord Jesus, may I truly and fully prepare for your coming that this Christmas may be the very best I have ever had. May your incarnation become real in my life and like Mary, may I become pregnant of you and deliver you to the world by my exemplary character. Amen.

Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. Happy Sunday.


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