[Pearls Ep 148: Preparing for Sunday.]
It’s better than even money that your Advent spiritual preparation involves limiting your time with your soul-sucking-device (the Mephistophelean marketing gurus call these “smartphones”).
You know who knew a lot about that? St. John the Baptist.
Seriously.
He knew all about real communication.
That’s why he went out to the wilderness and cried out from the depths of his soul.
You think he would have been satisfied with tik-tack (we know, that’s not how it’s spelled, but it’s closer to the truth)?
This Sunday’s Gospel reading brings us St. John the Baptist, with this description – “a voice of one crying out in the desert, Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.”
In this week’s Pearls of the Interior Life (and follow-up posts) we look at what the Church Father’s had to say about John the Baptist calling out from the wilderness – and, we affirm the desire to limit the SSD by looking at three of the ways it deadens us and then we offer 3 rules of engagement for using your phone – and better yet, NOT using it.
Blessings on your journey with Christ –
Steve and Karen Smith –
Interior Life
Postscript: Mt 3:1-6
John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said: A voice of one crying out in the desert, Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.
John wore clothing made of camel’s hair and had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. At that time Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region around the Jordan were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins.