As I was reading the Gospel for this week, I gained some inspiration when I read the words, “A voice crying out in the desert: prepare the way of the Lord, make straight His paths.” I imagined a voice similar to the one in the movie Field of Dreams whispering, “Prepare the way of the Lord.” We are like Ray Kinsella and it’s up to us to decide if we will listen to the voice.
We are all called to prepare the way of the Lord’s return. Before Jesus left this world, He said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” What are we doing to prepare the way? If we were having a big wedding feast and only a few people showed up to celebrate with us, we would be sad and disappointed. When Jesus returns, will He find disciples with faith willing to stand and celebrate with Him or will He find a world that doesn’t care?
Not only should we prepare the way for the Lord, we should also prepare the way so that others may have an easier path to Jesus. The road to heaven is a difficult one, but we can help others find it and clear some of the obstacles off of the road. When we clear the path for someone else, we are making our journey harder, but because we are focused on the road and clearing it, there is less likelihood that we will stray from the path ourselves.
Selflessness is not understood and accepted very well in the world. We are taught that we should strive to make things easier on ourselves, but Jesus teaches us to put others first and avoid the easy path that leads to destruction. Doing the right thing almost always involves more effort than the selfish thing.
Ray Kinsella spent his money and time building something that many outside of his family thought was crazy and wasteful. Why did he cut down his cash crop and build a baseball field when he could have just focused on himself? Even Ray got discouraged, but along the way he met people who encouraged him in his journey. When Ray made it back to his home, the fruits of his efforts were revealed to him. He found the one person he wanted to meet – his father. If you build it, He will come.
