Be prepared...

This reflection, by our Vicar Hank Mitchel, is the second installment in our series of Advent reflections based on the readings from Lessons and Carols.

The second lesson in our Advent Festival of Lessons and Carols came from Isaiah 40:1-11 where the prophet cries, "Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God." The passage includes the words, "A voice cries out: 'In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.'" During the season of Advent, the church always reads of John the Baptist, the one who called all who would listen to prepare for the coming of God. In Matthew's Gospel, John is identified as the one about whom Isaiah spoke, quoting the words exactly, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." It is difficult to miss Advent's greatest theme: Prepare for the coming of God!

Icon of John the Baptist from www.coptic.net