St. John the Baptist Sees Jesus from Afar by James Tissot
During Advent, I have been reflecting on the injunction to “Prepare the way for the Lord.” This is the life message of John the Baptist, and he does it with his whole person even unto death. Usually I receive this admonition in Advent as one for my own heart to make ready more space for the Lord, to give the long awaited Jesus more access to my valleys and mountains so that he can make them into a straight path for his presence. My death to self gives more breath to the risen Christ living his life in me.
I have been blessed this year by the book, The Mystery of Holy Night, a compilation of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s sermons on the Incarnation interspersed with art on the subject. The opening page quotes a letter he wrote from prison on the first Sunday in Advent, 1943, where he was imprisoned for his stand against the Nazis. Here is what he wrote to his parents:
Easter Vigil by ourselves (and Deacon Aunt Margie and cousins Charlotte and Josiah)
My uncle used to joke at the end of an evening, “We enjoyed ourselves…that’s about all we enjoyed…” Here at home quarantined with ourselves I find we are enjoying ourselves… some of the time; we are also disappointed in ourselves or bored with ourselves a lot of the time.
