Vigils Reading – 2nd Sunday of Advent

PREPARE A WAY FOR THE LORD

From a commentary by Origen of Alexandria

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The word of God was addressed to John, son of Zechariah, in the desert,

and he went through all the Jordan valley. Where else could he go but through

the Jordan valley, where there would be water at hand to baptize those wishing

to amend their lives?

Now the word Jordan means descent or coming down. Coming down and

rushing in full flood is the river of God, the Lord our Savior, in whom we were

baptized. This is the real, life-giving water, and the sins of those baptized in it

are forgiven.

So come, catechumens, and amend your lives so that you may have your

sins forgiven in baptism. In baptism the sins of those who cease to sin are

forgiven, but if anyone comes to be baptized while continuing to sin, that

person’s sins are not forgiven. This is why I urge you not to present yourselves

for baptism without thinking very carefully, but to give some evidence that you

really mean to change your way of living. Spend some time living a good life.

Cleanse yourselves from all impurity and avoid every sin. Then when you

yourselves have begun to despise your sins, they will be forgiven you. You will be

forgiven your sins if you renounce them.

The teaching of the Old Testament is the same. We read in the prophet

Isaiah: A voice cries out in the desert: Prepare a way for the Lord. Build him a

straight highway.What way shall we prepare for the Lord? A way by land?

Could the Word of God travel such a road? Is it not rather a way within ourselves

that we have to prepare for the Lord? Is it not a straight and level highway in our

hearts that we are to make ready? Surely this is the way by which the Word of

God enters, a way that exists in the spaciousness of the human body. The human

heart is vast, broad, and capacious, if only it is pure… You ought to judge it not

by its physical size but by its power to embrace such a vast amount of knowledge

of the truth.

But so that I may convince you that the human heart is large by a simple

example from daily life, let us consider this. Whatever city we may have passed

through, we have in our minds. We remember its streets, walls, and buildings,

what they were like and where they were situated. We have a mental picture of

the roads we have traveled. In moments of quiet reflection our minds embrace

the sea that we have crossed. So, as I said, the heart that can contain all this is

not small!

Therefore, if what contains so much is not small, let a way be prepared in

it for the Lord, a straight highway along which the Word and Wisdom of God

may advance. Prepare a way for the Lord by living a good life and guard that way

by good works. Let the Word of God move in you unhindered and give you a

knowledge of his coming and of his mysteries.