Is 40:1-5,9-11/ 2 Pt 3:8-14/ Mk 1:1-8
If there is one word to describe the month of December, it will be this word – shopping!
Ever since early November, the media on all platforms have been bombarding us with sales, sales and sales, and urging us to buy, buy, and buy.
All of that is under the cover of Christmas – buy presents, buy gifts, buy for yourself, buy for your loved ones, buy for your friends.
We may tend to think that commercialism has made Christmas into a great shopping event.
But guess who started this “shopping for Christmas”?
If you were to ask me, I would say that it was those wise men.
And what they bought were not cheap stuff. In those days, gold, frankincense and myrrh were commodities of great value.
So they “shopped” for those things to present them to the infant king of the Jews.
And they may not have gone shopping with their wives. Otherwise, there would be more than three gifts.
If their wives had gone along shopping with them, then probably there would be diapers and milk powder for the baby, and essence of chicken and bird nest for the mother.
So there it is, the origins of Christmas shopping and it has not stopped ever since.
But from the way the gospel described John the Baptist, it was quite obvious he didn’t do any Christmas shopping.
He wore a garment of camel skin, like as if he was going for some fancy dress party.
What he ate was far from the food that is usually associated with Christmas. Whatever wild honey might taste like, the locusts look like something from “Fear Factor”.
And instead of a backdrop of winter wonderland with evergreen Christmas trees, it was the dry and hot desert sands of the wilderness.
On this 2nd Sunday of Advent, John the Baptist makes his appearance and he is waking us up from dreaming of a white Christmas.
He was that messenger who prepared the way for the Lord, and making His path straight.
What John the Baptist did then, he also wants to do now as we enter into the 2nd week of Advent.
He calls out for repentance and for the forgiveness of sins.
And the target here is to make straight the paths of our hearts for Jesus to enter.
But very often the paths of our hearts are twisted and make crooked by the voices of the world.
Christmas time is also an occasion that children make use of to dictate to their parents what they want for Christmas.
And what they want may not do any good for them, and many parents find it difficult to explain to their teenagers why some music or movies or magazines or clothing are not acceptable.
There is this story of a father whose teenage son wanted a computer game for his Christmas present.
The son said that although it was expensive, it had high ratings and reviews and it was a gamer’s choice.
But it has a lot of violence and blood and gore, as well as some sex here and there and also foul language.
The father said no, the son pestered for an explanation. The father tried to explain but in the end it was still “NO” and the son sulked.
The next day, the father baked some brownies and asked his son if he would like to try some.
But he told his son that he needs to tell him what were the ingredients used before he can eat it.
It was a family recipe and the best ingredients were used, but the father added something new.
When the son asked what it was, the father calmly replied that he added dog poop.
The father stated that it was just a teaspoonful and he had taken great care to bake the mixture at the right temperature and for the exact time. The father said that the brownies will taste superb.
Even with all the assurances that the brownies will taste great, the son reeled and frowned and refused to take any.
The father acted surprised. There was only one additional ingredient and it would barely be noticed, but the son stubbornly refused to try the brownies.
Then the father explained that the computer game that the son wanted was just like the brownies.
Evil would mask itself in the voices of the world to say that the computer game is exciting and thrilling to play, and some violence and sex here and there is just part of the game.
But just like the brownies, just a bit of an extra ingredient makes all the difference between a great brownie and a repulsive one.
So whenever the son wanted to do something or get something or see something that he should not, the father would merely ask him if he would like some of his special dog poop brownies. No explanation or argument would be necessary.
Yes, the voices of the world of commercialism would twist and turn the paths of our hearts to get us to buy something we should not and eventually block out Jesus from entering into our hearts.
We need to shop, but let us shop wisely. The wise men bought gold, frankincense and myrrh to present them to the infant Jesus to symbolize His royalty, divinity and humanity.
May what we buy be used for the service of the Lord and to make the paths of our hearts straight for Jesus to enter.