Sirens went off about 2:30 am. Lightning was all around. A tornado watch had turned to a tornado warning. One had been sighted nearby. Shaken from sleep, I had to think, “What should I do?” I got dressed, lighted candles, gathered essential papers, and prepared to go to the basement quickly if needed. I prayed an antiphon from Compline:
“Protect us, Lord, as we stay awake; watch over us as we sleep, that awake, we may keep watch with Christ, and asleep, rest in his peace.”
As weather alerts convinced me this was not the night to return to sleep, I thought of other times when a sudden event had changed everything: Frankfort’s tornadoes in 1974, the flood that put the basements of all our church buildings under water in 1978, mother’s fall in 2006, a personal fire in 2018. You can be prepared for such events, but you cannot be ready. Yet, ready or not, here they come.
Do you remember the first song in Godspell, “Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord?” At first, a single, strong voice sings, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Prepare ye”….until the single voice is eventually joined by a chorus that sings that one line until excitement grabs you. The Lord is truly almost here….
How should you do it? How should you prepare the way of the Lord? The readings for today tell us how.
Today’s Gospel: Luke 3:10-18
Today’s Gospel is an important one. The central character is John the Baptist—Elizabeth and Zechariah’s child, Jesus’ cousin. John is in the desert region east of Jerusalem by the Jordan River. He is preaching “Prepare ye the way of the Lord.”
There was a belief in the people at the time (surely preparatory work of the Holy Spirit) that the Messiah would come when there were enough righteous people. I’ve read, “when there were at least 600 righteous people in Jerusalem.” John was in the desert, trying to motivate ENOUGH people to become righteous to equal the required number.
John preached repentance—metanoia. Metanoia is a Greek word that means literally, “to turn to face a different direction.” The direction to turn to in John’s preaching was the direction of the face of God. That phrase is all through the Hebrew scriptures. God did not let people see his face—except Moses. The effect on Moses was that his own face became radiant. He had to wear a veil after he had been face to face with God on the mountain. The face of God meant the reality, the essence, the Truth of God.
We prepare the way of the Lord by turning toward him, so we see his face deeper in our lives. When we do, we become radiant with God’s light.
Metanoia in New Testament times was a PROCESS of conversion. You turned your face toward God. As you saw God and God’s truth, you were changed. You saw and repented of your sins. You made up for them as best you could. Then you committed to change your ways-permanently. This process is described beautifully today as St. Luke says,
The crowds asked John the Baptist,
“What should we do?”
He said to them in reply,
“Whoever has two cloaks
should share with the person who has none.
And whoever has food should do likewise.”
Even tax collectors came to be baptized and they said to him,
“Teacher, what should we do?”
He answered them,
“Stop collecting more than what is prescribed.”
Soldiers also asked him,
“And what is it that we should do?”
He told them,
“Do not practice extortion,
do not falsely accuse anyone,
and be satisfied with your wages.”
John made metanoia practical–something to be practiced. People listened to John the Baptist. The experienced metanoia—including Jesus and several of the men whom he eventually chose to be his disciples: Peter, Andrew, James, and John—maybe others.
The question for us: What is metanoia for me today? As Catholics, we believe that conversion, metanoia is a lifetime process. It is the process by which we are divinized–by which we, change by change by change, come to be like God in our capacity for Truth, Compassion, Fidelity, and relationship.
The First Reading: Zephaniah 3:14-18a
Zephaniah was a prophet in Jerusalem during the reign of King Josiah, who ruled in the late 7th century BC. The tribes of Israel had already fallen to the Assyrians in 722 BC. It is a short book of three chapters, oracles given before King Josiah made some reforms to counter syncretism—the mixing of Jewish faith with other religions. Today’s reading comes from the final section of the book in which Zephaniah predicts that the Lord, their Lord and God, will triumph. It makes sense that this assurance was important. If the people were worshiping Yahweh AND other gods, it must have been because they weren’t quite sure their God was THE GOD. They needed to return to the ways of their God, who was and is THE GOD.
Two reasons for this passage today come to mind. First is that it is a “REJOICE” scripture, and today is Gaudate Sunday—the Sunday to rejoice because we are half way through Advent. From today, the readings each day move toward Christ’s birth. On Thursday of this week, we move into the “O Come Emmanuel” antiphons of the nine days prior to Christmas.
The second is that a theme in Zephaniah is the same as what we hear today from John the Baptist. Like John, Zephaniah calls the people to metanoia—turn around, face God, repent, and he will bring about a NEW Kingdom. Zephaniah even uses language like “I will save the lame and gather the outcast and I will change their shame into praise” in the verses that follow today’s reading.
The reading from Zephaniah ties John the Baptist to the earlier prophets. It says in effect, “John the Baptist and the coming Messiah are a new act in an old drama. Pay attention! The time has come for what we have waited for all these centuries.”
The Second Reading: Philippians 4: 4-7
St. Paul established the Christian community at Philippi in what is today Northern Greece around 50 AD on his second missionary journey. It was the first Christian community in Europe. Like the oldest child in many families, it grew up straight and responsible. The short letter includes no admonitions about false doctrines or veering from “the Way.” It is warm, upbeat, and expresses gratitude for the community’s financial assistance to Paul while he was in prison. Paul is definitely the author. It may have been written during his imprisonment in Ephesus in AD 54-57 or his final imprisonment in Rome, AD 61-62.
Today’s passage is a well-known one, calling the people to “rejoice.” Rejoice is a Middle English word, coming from the Anglo-French “rejois” which was a translation of the Latin word, “gaudere.” Gaudere meant “to be made glad.” That tie explains why it is used for Gaudate Sunday.
Applications
As I write this now, the sirens, wind, and heavy rain have stopped in Frankfort. All is very quiet—not necessarily a sign that the danger has passed when the storm could be a tornado. It’s still almost three hours until dawn.
It was good for me to recall in the night how quickly life can change. It is good to have evidence at the moment that for me, at least, today is not likely to be one of those days that make life forever after different.
But, as I revise this reflection now, early on Sunday morning, I know: the night was devastating to many. At more than 200 miles long, the storm event was the longest tornado track on record and the largest in Kentucky history. Maybe more than 100 people died.
As our governor said, “Remember, each of these lost lives are children of God, irreplaceable to their families and communities.” Interesting, in this same news conference, he responded to those who asked, “What should we do?” His answer was as practical as John the Baptist’s: “If you are in an affected community, but safe with power, stay off the roads. Let the first responders through. Give blood. I am setting up a fund to give donations.”
We Catholics also know to pray–for those who died, for those who serve in the affected regions, for devastated families, for Christ to come to Mayfield and Bowling Green and all those whose lives changed in the night.
We know to ask again, “What should we do?” We know to let God’s voice in us name what is asked of us.
Prepare ye the way of the Lord by doing something different—something more loving, more just.
For God did come at Christmas. He came to show us how to live in the face of God. He ate, slept, laughed, loved, and suffered as we humans do. He gave us example. He came that the lame, the outcast, the poor might rejoice. He came to SHOW US what to do.
When you see his face today, what metanoia are you called to? What are you to do?
Prayer:
Lord, we pray for our brothers and sisters who died in the night. We pray for those who are injured, whose homes or health or joy lie on the ground as debris. We pray for all those who serve them, who are your hands and feet and heart, o Lord. Make them strong, make them efficient, make them tireless, make them truly into You. Give them supernatural gifts.
And the rest of us, who can rejoice in our safety or our faith, poke and prod and prick us to metanoia in whatever way we need to be moved. Natural disasters have a way of pulling people to work together in love. This COVID time has pushed us too much into our own little pockets of self-protection. Let the way this disaster is handled pull us from our dormancy. Lead me, lead all of us, to cry out in the wilderness of this storm, “Yes, Lord, I will prepare the way of the Lord. What should I do?”
