Last month, I had the fortune of visiting Timor Leste after so many years. I was happily surprised to see the fast growth and development of Dili, its capital, into a highly urbanized city. I was particularly amazed at the world class streets and avenues which were built in just a few months to be ready for the Pope’s coming in September. My guide told me how he wished the Holy Father had extended his visit to Fuiloro, his hometown in the mountains, so that their roads too, (built since the Portuguese and Indonesian regimes) would be rehabilitated.
Like the Filipinos, the Timorese are known for their proverbial hospitality. They treat their visitors warmly and make sure that they are comfortable even at the cost of their own comfort. Thus, despite being a young nation with a struggling economy, the Timorese did not spare any sacrifice or expense to offer the Pope the best reception they could give.
Once again, we are in advent, the season to prepare for the coming of Christ. Often, we understand it as a preparation for the great feast of Christmas. Hence our celebration of advent is one of nostalgic remembering of that holy night when the angels came down from heaven and announced to the shepherds the birth of an extraordinary Child in a manger.
Advent is not simply about the beautiful memory of Christmas in the past. Neither is it solely about our hope for Christ’s second coming in an unknown future. (We may not even probably live to see that day.) While advent is certainly about both these comings, more importantly, it is about the coming of Christ today – in our world and in our life.
In today’s gospel, Luke starts his story with a list of specific persons (rulers and priests), times and places . Luke intends to establish that Jesus is a historical person (not a myth as many believe him to be) who lived in a particular time and place. At the same time, by introducing John the Baptist as the precursor of Christ, Luke points to an important transition in human history. With the coming of Christ, the history of man becomes the history of salvation. Through Jesus’ incarnation, God becomes one of us, entering our life and turning our secular history into a sacred history.
Thus, the incarnate God is present in humanity and in every human person. He came among us when he was born in Bethlehem, and he continues to come among us today just as he will continue to be with us until the end of time. Luke speaks of the coming of Christ among real people in real time. In the same way, advent reminds us of the coming of Christ among us, real people in real time, here and now.
John the Baptist teaches us how to prepare for the coming of Christ. “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth.”
During this advent season, let us take time to look into ourselves and identify the mountain and valleys, rough roads and crooked paths we need to work on so Jesus can come and build his kingdom in our heart and in our society.
It is easy to identify the high mountains that need levelling in our government which is plagued with arrogant and entitled leaders who do not think they are not accountable to the people for the power and resources entrusted to them. Or the valleys to be filled among officials who, though utterly lacking in competence and qualification, find their way to the top simply because of their dynastic name or their “right connections.” It is easy to identify the crooked ways and rough edges in others, but it may be more helpful to identify the hills and valleys in ourselves first.
The kingdom of God starts in our own heart. Conversion, the preparation of which John the Baptist speaks, begins with us.