John the Baptist said, “I am the voice crying out in the desert, make straight the way of the Lord.” He proclaimed that the Messiah was coming and that everyone should repent and prepare themselves for His arrival. We are also all called to proclaim the message of Jesus to others and to prepare the world for His coming.
Picture Jesus as the dinner guest and us as the hosts. When someone comes over for nice dinner, we decorate the table, get out the nice dinnerware, and plan everything for the meal. We should do the same in our spiritual lives. If Jesus came today, how would our soul look? Would it look disheveled and dirty like Pig-Pen from the Peanuts cartoon or well groomed and nice? The world has a lot of mess in it right now. We can do our part by helping to clean up the mess that we see in our own little world. Be a good example to others and your goodnesses will rub off on them. Treat others the way Jesus would treat them. Be patient, kind, and loving…even in traffic. Being nice to someone could break them out of their bad mood and make them more likely to pass on the kindness to someone else.
This year on December 21st, Jupiter and Saturn will appear so close to each other in the sky that they will form the Christmas star. This is something that hasn’t happened in 800 years. Some may say that this is only an astronomical occurrence, but I believe God is also telling us that He is still present and loving us. I think it is also a good reminder that Jesus will return one day and we should stay alert. Just as the Christmas star pointed the way to the baby Jesus, we should each be like that star and point others to Jesus. When we walk towards Jesus, others will inevitably follow and the same goes for when we walk away from Him. Let us each continue to let our little light shine and we will illuminate the world with love.
