Fr Marco Lazzaron
voice cries, ‘Prepare in the wilderness a way for the Lord.
Make a straight highway for our God across the desert.
Let every valley be filled in, every mountain and hill be laid low.
Let every cliff become a plain, and the ridges a valley;
then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all mankind shall see it;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken’ (Is 40:3-5).
Today’s first reading explains well this Sunday’s Gospel. It is in the deserts and in the trials of our lives, that we can find by grace moments for welcoming the consoling, reassuring light of God. On the one hand, we do not see God, on the other hand, we can properly see only through him because he can illuminate (as I was saying last weekend) the eyes of our hearts, he can touch and warm our hearts, opening them to a path towards a fuller life.
But, what are the valleys, the cliffs, the ridges, and the mountains of our lives? These are our spiritual wounds, our trials, our fears. We can fill the valleys and make plain the cliffs only by invoking God, seeking him with our hearts. There is a need for this preparation, this gradual approach. You are on a road where the glory, the mysterious power, of God is gradually manifesting.
The last thing that is thought of and decided for a newspaper article, whether in print or on the web, is the title. If we think about it, when we decide to read an article we do it because the title has somehow struck and attracted us, giving us in a few words the summary of what we are going to read. The beginning of the Good News about Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Mk 1:1). The first verse in Mark is the title prepared for his entire gospel, a guide for reading what he is about to narrate. With Jesus, a “new creation” has occurred (the same word was used in Gen 1:1, the beginning, archè). This is how the Bible begins: God looks and sees that it is good!
At the beginning of the Gospel, Mark presents the prototype of the righteous man who lives in an evangelical way, John the Baptist. John must prepare the way; John sees God’s footprints in the dust of our streets. God comes! Even if you don’t notice him, he comes. The world is full of his traces. Look for them!