In the Gospel today John the Baptist is described as a voice, calling for a highway to be made clear, for obstacles to be removed from the path, for winding ways to be straightened, for valleys and hills to be leveled. All this so that it will be possible for the Lord to come among His people. In response to John’s call, many people go out to the River Jordan to listen to this man, and, moved by what he says, to go down into the river and be washed clean in a baptism of sorrow for sin. By making their lives “pure and blameless,†people prepare a clear path for the Lord. When St. Paul went to Philippi in Macedonia, he founded a community which also responded wholeheartedly to the call of Christ. They cleared a way for the Lord in their own lives. As a result, Paul praises them and thanks God for the love he finds among them. If the salvation of God is to come into this world, then it is through the witness of the Lord’s followers that it will happen. The good work will be brought to completion. In particular, Paul prays that these Christians in Philippi will grow into the wisdom of “recognizing what is best.†This is a great gift. In life’s struggles and conflicts, it requires great wisdom what is best. For example, in one of the Lord’s parables, about the wheat and weeds, we hear the advice to let things be until harvest time. Do not attack everything that you think is wrong – you may do more harm than good.
In time of exile, the prophet Baruch called on the people to leave aside their dress of sorrow and to live in gladness, because God will make a highway for them to walk again in freedom. This call is made again to us today. Though we live in exile, in a valley of tears in this world, we have seen the salvation of God come the good news of Jesus, risen from the dead. Now it is our turn to be road builders and pathfinders for others in this world. It is for us to make a highway, a clear way for the Lord. We do that, with His grace, when we take the initiative in loving, in goodness and kindness to all we meet; when our knowledge and understanding continue to grow all through our life, and when we come to recognize what is best. People traveling on the London Underground do not know all the things that are done to make their journey safe. Yet, without that army of workers, there would be no travel, no journey. So too in this world, for things to go well, it needs the faithful and often unsung lives of good people to prepare the way of the Lord.