This morning’s Gospel reading is John 1:6–8, 19–28:

A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light.

And this is the testimony of John. When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him to ask him, “Who are you?” he admitted and did not deny it, but admitted, “I am not the Christ.” So they asked him, “What are you then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us? What do you have to say for yourself?” He said:

“I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

Some Pharisees were also sent. They asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water; but there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.” This happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

A voice cries out in the wilderness
‘Prepare a way for the Lord!’
A voice cries out in the wilderness
‘Make straight a highway for God!’

We are deep in the four-week cycle of Advent today, with just one more Sunday to go before Christmas — and indeed, that comes at midnight following the fourth Sunday. The season of Advent bids us to prepare ourselves for the Lord, in just the way that John the Baptist preaches in today’s Gospel. This year, thanks to the calendar, we must prepare during Advent, because if we waited until the fourth Sunday of the season, well … best of luck to us.

When this Gospel reading comes up, it reminds me always of the hymn written by Fr. Michael Joncas more than 40 years ago. Fr. Joncas (of my previous archdiocese, in fact) wrote this based on passages from Isaiah 40 rather than our first reading from Isaiah 61 today, but they closely parallel both. His works are much loved and often performed within Catholic liturgical circles and beyond. His most well-known hymn is probably “On Eagles’ Wings,” but for me, “A Voice Cries Out” is Fr. Joncas’ best piece — especially when performed in full four-part choir settings with the descants.

This performance among other YouTube videos comes closest to demonstrating its power and undeniable call to the heart:

In this hymn, Fr. Joncas captures the full range of beauty, anticipation, sorrow, and hope of Isaiah and today’s Gospel. It calls us to the Lord, but even more than that, it calls us to sing — and not just with the song itself.

The Gospel today focuses on John the Baptist, but our passage from Isaiah can be read more broadly. Consider the first part (Isaiah 61:1-2a):

The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the LORD and a day of vindication by our God.

To whom does this refer? Clearly, Isaiah primarily means himself. As a prophet of the Lord, this applies perfectly to Isaiah. However, it also presages John the Baptist, who came to announce an age of vindication and favor from the Lord by preparing the way for Jesus Christ. But the second part clearly anticipates Jesus Himself (Isaiah 61:10-11):

I rejoice heartily in the LORD, in my God is the joy of my soul; for he has clothed me with a robe of salvation and wrapped me in a mantle of justice, like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem, like a bride bedecked with her jewels. As the earth brings forth its plants, and a garden makes its growth spring up, so will the Lord GOD make justice and praise spring up before all the nations.

John the Baptist did not live in anything nearly like the setting described here. Neither did Jesus, at least not in this world. This describes the risen Christ ascended to Heaven, anticipating His exercise of the “mantle of justice” given to Him by the Lord. The use of the bridegroom imagery is particularly compelling, especially in light of Revelation’s description of the wedding feast of the Lamb, upon which our Mass is based. It is in the union of the Bridegroom and His Church that “justice and praise [will] spring up before the nations.”

However, we are still missing a piece. How do the nations know to offer justice and praise at all? For an answer to that, we must go to the end of the Gospels. In both Luke and Matthew, Jesus gives a final command to His disciples that they should go forth into the world to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew) and “that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in His name to all nations” (Luke).

Thus we come to what John the Baptist prepares us to do. It is not just to welcome the Lord into our lives and hearts, although that certainly is part of it. John the Baptist models the calling of the Apostles, the Disciples: to “prepare a way for the Lord” to all nations, all hearts, so that each person can know and choose.

Consider how the Apostles fared in their lives and their callings. They went out into hostile lands to convert people from various kinds of polytheistic and animist beliefs — all deserts or wildernesses in one way or another for a believer in Christ. Most of them met their deaths through martyrdom for the faith, just as John the Baptist did. But all of them “made straight a highway for God” where they went, and set the stage for those who followed to continue bringing people the Gospels and news of salvation through Christ.

But the job is not finished yet, and this is our turn to serve.

At the beginning of Advent, the first season on the Christian calendar, John the Baptist invites us into the life of an apostle. At the end of Pentecost, the end of our liturgical special seasons, we are called to emulate John the Baptist as well as the Apostles by going out into the “wilderness” of unbelief and proclaiming the Good News of salvation.

And if nothing else works, just sing. Beauty and truth can be expressed in many different forms. I have never met Fr. Joncas, but I can at least thank him now for his beautiful and inspiring works, which themselves prepare the way for our Lord.

The front-page image is “The Preaching of St. John the Baptist in the Desert” by Massimo Stanzione, c. 1634. On display at the Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain. Via Wikimedia Commons. 

“Sunday Reflection” is a regular feature, looking at the specific readings used in today’s Mass in Catholic parishes around the world. The reflection represents only my own point of view, intended to help prepare myself for the Lord’s day and perhaps spark a meaningful discussion. Previous Sunday Reflections from the main page can be found here.