“It may seem that you are on the path alone, but the light that guides you is coming from somewhere. Trust your every step because none of us walk this journey alone.”
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This morning, Mom was feeling well enough to go downstairs for Mass. Last week, she had no energy and felt horrible. Volunteers come every Sunday to the Greens of Elgin from St. Thomas Moore to officiate Mass and give communion. The wheel chairs and walkers processed slowly into the activity room. As I sat there, waiting for the opening song, “Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel,” I thought to myself…self…look at these lovely, elderly, barely able to move seniors. They can take a few minutes out of their day to attend a church service. So, next time I’m feeling lazy or I think the weather is too harsh to go out and go to church, I’ll think of these folks and the great effort it takes to attend a service. They come with a smile and they leave with a jubilant heart.
Today’s Gospel was the proclamation that someone was coming, someone powerful, who will baptize us with the Holy Spirit.
1 The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2 It is written in the prophet Isaiah: Look, I am going to send my messenger in front of you to prepare your way before you.
3 A voice of one that cries in the desert: Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight.
4 John the Baptist was in the desert, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
5 All Judaea and all the people of Jerusalem made their way to him, and as they were baptised by him in the river Jordan they confessed their sins.
6 John wore a garment of camel-skin, and he lived on locusts and wild honey.
7 In the course of his preaching he said, ‘After me is coming someone who is more powerful than me, and I am not fit to kneel down and undo the strap of his sandals.
8 I have baptised you with water, but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.’
My take on it… many have been sent to prepare us for the final judgement. It says to prepare a way for the Lord, and make his paths straight. The most direct path is always the straight path. When we wander off the true path, taking wrong turns, looking for something better or different or more exciting, that’s when we lose our way. (I know, I get lost all the time. But, not on purpose. As soon as I can, Siri gets me back on the right path. Maybe that’s what we need. We need a Siri app that zaps us when we wander off the straight and narrow in life.)
Mom is in the middle, with her big smile, even though she feels terrible, weak and tired, and has pneumonia. Always a smile on her face. That’s my role model and my guiding light.
Toni Andrukaitis 
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