Preparation

 “Remember not the former things,

nor consider the things of old.

Behold, I am doing a new thing;

now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

- Isaiah 43:18-19

This scripture verse is one that I stumbled across during household retreat (or maybe just before it).  It keeps coming up in my mind.  There is a sense of preparation contained within it.  The Lord says “I am doing a new thing.”  What is that new thing that He is doing in my heart?  I want to know, but I don’t understand yet.  I don’t perceive it.  But I know He is making straight His way in my heart (ref. Isaiah 40:3). 

All the liturgical readings for the season of Advent seem to contain this feeling of preparation, of waiting.  This sense of preparation rings through my heart.  I am waiting. I am waiting for the coming of Christ in the flesh at Christmas; I am waiting for my trip to Austria; and I am waiting for the second coming of Christ as the King of Glory.  All of these are things that require preparation, both spiritually and physically.  And so I have been thinking, what can I do to prepare for these events?  How can I understand what the Lord is doing in my heart?

The answer that I have come to is prayer.  It is so very necessary to pray, because it is how we communicate with God and how He communicates with us.  And if I want to be in union with Him, I must pray.  He will prepare my heart.  He will “make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert" and I will be able to see where He is leading me.

Just like Fr. Joseph, our associate pastor, challenged us in his homily today, I challenge you to commit to a time of daily prayer, especially in these last few days of Advent.  We want to be ready when the King of Glory comes!