A Clean Heart is the Greatest Gift

Second Sunday of Advent Dec. 7, 2008 (Mk 1:1-8)

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way. A voice of one crying out in the desert: "Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths."

John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. People of the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins.

John was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He fed on locusts and wild honey.

And this is what he proclaimed: "One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

The Gospel today describes John the Baptist and how he prepared the people for the coming of Christ. He proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. He was able to baptize many people, drawing their attention to heavenly things, reminding them of the coming of the Messiah, the one mightier than him.

John the Baptist is an important figure in the Advent Season. He shows us that preparing for Jesus' coming does not require meaningless joy. It does not require decorations whose deeper symbolism we have forgotten, nor attending the Simbang Gabi just because it's fun and challenging to attend Mass in such an unusual hour.

Preparing for Jesus' coming should be a spiritual preparation, as John the Baptist showed us. He did not prepare a feast for Jesus. Instead, he spent his days in the desert, wearing clothes from camel's hair and eating locusts and honey. He proclaimed repentance. Before Jesus comes, we are asked to "prepare the way of the Lord. Make straight in the wasteland, a highway for our God. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low; the rugged land shall be made a plain, the rough country, a broad valley." (Is 40:3-4). This signifies a complete change of heart.

The valleys should be filled in. This means that we need to have the things that we ought to have. We need to be good, be "filled in" with virtues and values that a Christian is expected to have.

Every mountain and hill should be made low. This signifies that we should do away with the "mountains of sins" that we have built in our hearts. The Advent Season invites us to return to God, to meet Him in the confessional where He is ready to forgive us through the priest.

If we make so many material preparations for Christmas, we could end up rejoicing for shallow reasons. We will be celebrating parties with our friends and family, eating joyfully and exchanging gifts. We will be lighting Christmas lights and sending Christmas cards. These things are not at all bad. Christmas is a joyful celebration. But oftentimes, our joy comes from these things, not from the good news that Christmas brings. We seem to be forgetting the nature of the celebration. It's Jesus' birthday, for goodness' sake! This should be the ultimate cause of our joy.

The only thing which we could prepare for Jesus is a place in the manger of our hearts. Even if our hearts are just humble mangers for the Lord, it would mean so much to Him if our hearts were clean, free from sins. He chooses to dwell in our hearts. And we should do Him the favor of preparing our hearts for His coming.

Let us follow the example of John the Baptist, the herald of Christ, who prepared for Jesus' coming with a baptism, an act which nourishes the spirit, not the stomach. Let us make this Christmas more special, not with a red ribbon, but with a proper preparation of our hearts for His coming. Let us also remember that Advent is not only a preparation for Christmas, it is also a reminder of Jesus' second coming. With these in mind, we should be ready. A clean and charitable heart will be our ticket to God's Kingdom and our greatest gift for Jesus' birthday.