Page 20 - LOTN Autumn Issue 54 2023

EDUCATION AND FORMATION

Preparing for the Lord

BY EILEEN CLARE GRANT
that might set up an obstacle in the path of the Lord into
“Almighty and merciful God, our lives and into our hearts. Then we shall be fit and ready
May no earthly undertaking hinder those to greet our divine King when he arrives in all His glory.
who set out in haste to meet your Son,
but may our learning of heavenly wisdom “Shout with a loud voice,
gain us admittance to his company.” joyful messenger to Jerusalem.
(Opening Prayer Advent Sunday B). Shout without fear,
say to the towns of Judah,
n Advent we are urged to prepare to greet the Lord Here is your God.”
with joy and open, welcoming hearts – to meet him
and share his life through the sacraments, gifted This expectation of the coming of the Lord in glory should
Ito us through that first coming in the flesh; but evoke intense joy in us, not fear, for the One we are eagerly
especially to be ready for him when he comes again awaiting is our Saviour, the God who has loved us with an
in glory. Not only must we remain watchful, but we everlasting love; the God who suffered and died for us; the
must make ourselves ready, worthy to greet our Lord’s God who rose from the dead to show us our way into the
triumphant return when he will gather us to himself. Kingdom of Heaven. What is there to fear? All we have to do
is “lead lives without spot or stain” and keep vigil.
“O People of Zion, behold, the Lord will come to
save all nations, and the Lord will make the glory of his “He is like a shepherd feeding his flock,
voice heard in the joy of your hearts” (Is 30:19,30). gathering lambs in his arms,
holding them against his breast
The Prophet Isaiah offers words of consolation from God and leading to their rest the mother ewes.”
to His people who have for so long been pining in darkness,
yearning to go home and to know their Father’s tender care Isaiah, whose lips an angel touched with divine fire at
once again. He describes the coming of the Lord in triumph the beginning of his mission, offers us such beautiful,
in royal terms: “Prepare in the wilderness a way for the strengthening images. This is what we can look forward to:
Lord. Make a straight highway … Let every valley be filled not annihilation, not uncaring tyranny, but to be gathered
in…” In Isaiah’s world, when a king was expected to visit his up into the arms of our Lord and tenderly carried to our
subjects, they would indeed repair the roads to make his eternal rest and beatitude.
progress easier: level hills and fill in potholes. In our turn,
we have to prepare ourselves to be open to the Lord; to “The Day of the Lord will come like a thief,
fill in the holes of indifference or neglect; to remove the and then with a roar the sky will vanish, the
mounds of sin, of greed, of envy, of intolerance: of anything elements will catch fire and fall apart, the earth
and all that it contains will be burnt up.”

Page 20