The Voice Calling to Prepare for the Lord

Prayer-Soldier

The Voice Calling to Prepare for the Lord

Scripture:

And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom, and of understanding, the spirit of counsel, and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge, and of godliness. And he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord, He shall not judge according to the sight of the eyes, nor reprove according to the hearing of the ears. But he shall judge the poor with justice, and shall reprove with equity the meek of the earth: and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. And justice shall be the girdle of his loins: and faith the girdle of his reins.

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb: and the leopard shall lie down with the kid: the calf and the lion, and the sheep shall abide together, and a little child shall lead them. The calf and the bear shall feed: their young ones shall rest together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on other hole of the asp: and the weaned child shall thrust his hand into the den of the basilisk. They shall not hurt, nor shall they kill in all my holy mountain, for the earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the covering waters of the sea. In that day the root of Jesse, who stands for an ensign of the people, him the Gentiles shall beseech, and his sepulcher shall be glorious. (Isaiah 11:1-10)

For what things soever were written were written for our learning: that, through patience and the comfort of the scriptures, we might have hope. Now the God of patience and of comfort grant you to be of one mind, one towards another, according to Jesus Christ: That with one mind and with one mouth you may glorify God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore, receive one another, as Christ also has received you, unto the honor of God. For I say that Christ Jesus was minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers: But that the Gentiles are to glorify God for his mercy, as it is written: Therefore will I confess to you, O Lord, among the Gentiles and will sing to your name. (Romans 15:4-9)

And in those days comes John the Baptist preaching in the desert of Judea. And saying: Do penance: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by Isaias the prophet, saying: A voice of one crying in the desert, Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. And the same John had his garment of the hair of a camel, and a leather girdle about his loins: and his meat was locusts and wild honey.

Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea, and all the country about Jordan: And were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. And seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them: You brood of vipers, who has shown you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruit worthy of penance. And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham for our father. For I tell you that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham. For now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not yield good fruit, shall be cut down, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you in water unto penance, but he that shall come after me, is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire. Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his floor and gather his wheat into the barn; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. (Matthews 3:1-12)

Reflection:

And so it was foretold of the One who would come, the One who brings the Word of truth and love to the world. He sees beyond all deceit and into the depths of every soul. He brings forth the Holy Spirit through which every heart may come to understand the blessings of His Word. He is the One from which eternal peace spawns.

Though the wicked lie in wait for His faithful and endeavor to confound those who seek His path, He remains the light which the world cannot deny. Many an emperor, king and tyrant have sought to silence those who speak His name, and have starved, tortured and put to death those who hope to walk His path. While those who persecute may succeed in punishment of the flesh, none will succeed in destroying the spirit of the lambs of His church.

Evil may have its reign in the heart of the wicked, but in the day of judgment, evil will be crushed and those wedded to it shall be left to the void. All who were set one against another by the wiles of the ungodly will gain the understanding of the depths of His Word and the peace which is possible through His commandments to love. He is the One who will lift the veil of deceit which blinds the children of His creation so that they will no longer be mislead by twisted words designed by the pernicious to raise hate and divisions amongst the people. Blessed will be those who see, for through His light, they shall be cleansed and shall receive His salvation.

He told us He would divide family against family, not that He seeks division amongst the children of His creation, but because He knows there are those who cannot see beyond the darkness. He seeks to lead the faithful away from those who bow at the feet of evil and those who choose to remain blind in the sight of His light. He beckons to all the children of His creation and desires not to lose any of His lambs, but it will come to pass that many will not heed. Through the Word, all who will listen, will find hope in the knowledge that the day will come where they will become free of the evil which walks the earth. He desires all to join Him, but He will only bring those to His kingdom who choose to believe in the Prince of Peace and the blessings revealed only through Him.

Through the generations, evil seeks to confound the masses and tempts their arrogance, but not all are deceived. The one who was sent to herald the way rebuked the evil of sin, but he did not turn away the sinner, rather he invited them to repent and be baptized. His voice was raised to give hope to even the most vile that salvation was to come through the One who brought the cleansing light of the Holy Spirit. The choice is clear and simple, yet so difficult for the blind in spirit.

The voice in the desert, then, still cries out to make straight the way of the Lord. The call is through the generations, to each soul, to the meek and the one steeped in sin; He calls all to His light. There is no one blameless before Him, but He, through His great love, offers forgiveness so that all might be with Him. Through prayer, all the blessings of His peace and His love shall be revealed to the repentant heart.

May the peace and blessings of the Lord be with you always,
Prayer Soldier