Here is part of today’s Gospel, from St Luke: ‘In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, in the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness; and he went into all the region about the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight”’.

This sixth century icon, which is in the public domain, shows John as he is: ascetic, and burning with zeal for the mission entrusted to him. At the same time, his eyes gaze with intense focus on a point beyond. The colours are those of the desert where he had made his eremitical abode, and from which he is now called to come forth. His call is to repentance; and that call is issued to us too, as we continue on our Advent journey.

This Advent, may we make the paths of our heart straight – direct, and fully in tune with the Lord. Today, may you be blessed in the efforts you make in this regard; and may God be very close to you.