Sunday December 17th: Make a straight way for the Lord

“He came as a witness, as a witness to speak for the light.”

John1:6-8. 19-28

John had a very clear mission, and he understood his purpose. His entire purpose in life was to bear witness to Jesus. “He came as a witness to speak for the light.”
He knew that he was only a messenger, a voice, sent to preach a message of repentance and salvation. He proclaimed, “I am the voice that cries out in the wilderness: Make a straight way for the Lord.”
John encountered hostility, bullying and rejection but because he was so clear about his mission, he was able to keep his focus. He represented exceptionally well in the eyes of the public, making much of Christ and little of himself, “Make a straight way for the Lord.”
This Advent prophet resisted the disoriented world of corruptibility, and he was fiercely bent on seeking to love God and to prepare the way. He had an desire to eradicate anything that would hinder his mission to bear witness. The heroic, self-less witness reminds us that there was a man named John, an advent prophet who can help us to build hope and witness to Christ.