Preparing the Way

“A voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his path” (John 1:23). These words of St. John the Baptist resound within me as I serve as a sacristan at St. John Paul II Seminary. What a blessing it is to serve the Lord by preparing the physical offering of the bread and wine for Mass. This job has pushed me to reflect on what it means to prepare the way for the Lord.
 
Being a sacristan forms me for the priesthood. In fact, St. John the Baptist is often considered an example of the priesthood. In his book, Why Celibacy?,  Fr. Griffin writes that St. Augustine compared the priest to St. John the Baptist, the “friend of the Bridegroom.” In preparing the way for the Lord at every liturgy at the seminary, I imagine serving the Lord as his friend.
 
Handling the same instruments that are used in the sacrifice of the Mass is a powerful experience. When I am given this opportunity, I feel like the Apostle Thomas: the Lord is asking me to place my hand in his side and feel the wounds in his hands and feet. This invitation inflamed St. Thomas’ belief and prompted him to spread the good news to vast numbers of people in India. This man embraced the call of John the Baptist!
      
There is also a universal priesthood given to each Catholic at their baptism. We are each called to be priest, prophet, and king. We are called to be saints! St. John the Baptist is a guide to each of us in showing how to prepare the way for the Lord.
 
The sacristan prepares for Mass so that the priest can fulfill the re-presentation of the sacrifice at Calvary. While my job is unique, everyone is called to be a sacristan in a larger way: to prepare for the Eternal Banquet. The sacrifice of the Mass is intrinsically tied to the Eternal Liturgy that occurs in Heaven—to which each of us is invited through our universal call to holiness.
 
In the book of Genesis, Abraham ordered Isaac to carry wood for a sacrifice to the top of Mount Moriah, where Isaac prepared the altar. Isaac did not know the sacrifice for which he was preparing, and he eventually discovered it would be himself. In the end, however, Isaac was spared.
 
This Old Testament story occurs before Jesus Christ is glorified by his sacrifice on the Cross. After this pivotal event in salvation history, our eyes are no longer set on the old ways of sacrifice; they are forever fixed on the Sacrifice of Calvary and the redemptive power of the Cross. We are called to imitate Christ in his suffering and death. This is beautifully radical!

Like Isaac, we carry the wood of our sins, trials, and tribulations to this sacrifice. Unlike Isaac, however, we are not spared. We are given the opportunity to offer our being completely to God. It is only in this offering that God can overtake us, embrace us, and call us his own.
 
Let us remember that every moment of our lives is a preparation for the Heavenly Feast. May we follow the passion of the Lord so that at the Wedding Feast of The Lamb, we may proclaim with the angels and saints, “Now have salvation and power come, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed One” (Rev. 12:10).

Mr. Anderson is a College II seminarian for the Archdiocese of Baltimore.