Empty Manger During Advent
“Be patient brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and late rains.” The second reading for mass today begins with this verse in scripture. It does a very good job at describing our current advent season. Many children are waiting patiently for Christmas to receive their new toys. Many people travel long distances to visit their family for Christmas and they are waiting to leave on their trip. Older parents are waiting to see all of their children and grandchildren and their extended family gather together for Christmas dinner.
Ever since we were little children, we’ve learned to wait patiently for Christmas to come. Can you imagine how long John the Baptist waited for Christ to come? He preached on sheer faith. Without seeing Jesus, he proclaimed him to the world for a very long time. His faith in Jesus never wavered.
Have you ever wondered how John the Baptist did it? Living in the desert, eating locusts and wild honey with only a camel’s hair shirt to wear? Actually, this is one of the reasons John the Baptist was so holy, because he lived simply, with only the bare necessities and focused on his prayer life and the people who came into his life. This is a good example for us to think about, in how to simplify our lives during advent and have a simpler Christmas. Perhaps it could lead into a simpler lifestyle for the long term too.
Jesus himself spoke of the holiness of John the Baptist. His possessions or way of life meant absolutely nothing to him. Jesus kind of chastises the crowd when he said, “What did you go out to the desert to see?” “Someone dressed in fine clothing? Those who wear fine clothing are in royal palaces.”
The fact that John the Baptist proclaimed him to the world is what mattered to Jesus. He said, “Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist.”
The first reading for mass talks about the parched desert blooming with beautiful flowers. John the Baptist was a beautiful flower that bloomed out of no where, for the Lord. There is a saying that can be found framed on the wall in many Catholic homes that has this wonderful bit of advice for all of us as well. The picture usually has a beautiful flower with the words “bloom where you are planted”. And that means we don’t have to travel far away on mission trips, or seek out things beyond our normal everyday life in order to grow in a life of service to Christ. We bloom and produce fruit right where we are.
Throughout the gospels Jesus urges people to “produce good fruit”. It’s interesting that the gospel today says that John the Baptist “heard in prison of the works of the Christ” and sent his disciples to find out if he really was the Messiah. When Christ answered his disciples, he did not do so directly. Jesus simply listed the “fruits” of his ministry, “the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.” Never once did Christ tell them that he was the son of God, he told them his “fruits” because he always taught his own disciples that you can know a tree by it’s fruits.
Many of us are already producing “fruits” during this advent season by shopping for presents, making plans for Christmas dinner, or making arrangements to visit relatives during the Christmas holiday. Hopefully, it doesn’t stop there though. We should also be proclaiming Christ to the world, like John the Baptist did.
It’s hard to keep Christ in Christmas during our busy modern lives, but there are numerous little ways we can do this. Do we send out secular Christmas cards? Or those that proclaim Christ? Are many of our holiday decorations centered on a religious theme? Do we own an advent wreath and nativity set? If we have small children, is our focus on Santa Claus of less importance than our focus on baby Jesus? Are we attentive to the needs of the people in our lives that are not our family and friends?
Last, but not least. Have we been to confession during advent yet? And, have we devoted more time than usual in prayer and in developing our own relationship with Jesus? In this way, Jesus will not be off in the distance somewhere in our holiday celebrations, but at the center of all that we do.
