Prepare the way for the Lord – create silence.

It may seem at first glance that this is not the case in the Gospel according to Mark, but the opposite is true (cf. 1:1-8). The evangelist writes, “the whole country of Judea and all the people of Jerusalem looked for John the Baptist in the desert”. Th.”desert is, above all, a place of silence. It is surprising why these multitudes of people seek the desert, silence. It is not just about the sensation that St. John Baptist. It’s not just mob psychosis. It is a testimony that without absolute silence, a person cannot find himself or the fullness of life. It is a testimony to what the French surrealist painter Mare Chagall said: “In our demoralized world, everything can change, but man will always long for God, goodness, and love.”

Therefore, when John the Baptist says: “Prepare the way for the Lord,” – we could also understand it quite concretely: Create the necessary silence in your life. Silence is not emptiness. It is a condition for us to be able to hear our God and the other person as well as ourselves. It is a condition for us to learn to understand ourselves, others, and our God. Why do we sometimes not understand each other? Why do husbands, parents, children, or even politicians not understand each other? Because we can’t listen to each other, we can’t be quiet. How do we prepare for Christmas? What kind of Christmas will we experience this year in our hearts, families, etc.? How do we prepare the way for Jesus in our lives? Well, if only we, too, could hear the Lord’s voice today, not harden our hearts and create the necessary silence that enriches us and with which we can enrich others. What matters is whether we want to listen!

Let’s approach it with a story:

An Indian who lived on a reservation visited one day his white friend who lived in a large modern city. The noise, the speeding cars, and the rushing people disoriented him. He walked close beside his friend, watching his every move. He stopped suddenly.
– Do you hear what I hear too?
– You mean the cars that drive by?
– Not!
– Tram sound? 
– Not!
– Conversation of people, what are they walking around us?
– Not!
– Squealing tires?
– Not!
– So what do you hear?
– There is a grasshopper somewhere nearby.
– Not possible!
– Here, somewhere near us, there is a grasshopper! Can’t you hear anything?
-Not! The Indian walked up to the wall of the house, in front of which was some grass, and saw a prairie horse.
– It is pretty clear that you heard the chirping of the grasshopper. You have better ears than me. Indians hear much better than white people. The Indian smiled, shook his head, and said: – You are not suitable, my friend. The hearing of an Indian is neither better nor worse than that of a white man. I can prove my point to you. Pay attention! The Indian reached into his pocket, took out a coin, and threw it on the ground. Many passers-by reacted to the sound of the coin falling on the pavement. One of them walked up to her, looked around, picked her up, smiled, put her in his pocket, and walked on.

– You see, the sound of a coin falling on the pavement is no louder than the chirping of a prairie horse, and many passers-by noticed it. No one could hear the squealing of the horse, only me. The hearing of an Indian is neither better nor worse than that of a white man. We hear only what we want to hear, what we direct our attention to.

Let’s realize that we live in a society that does not lead us to silence but suffocates us with a cloud amount of superficial and often very tendentially selected information. Therefore, let’s not be surprised that we slowly stop understanding our world and ourselves. We need silence, which conveys the most beautiful things about ourselves. A God who loves us and gives us freedom, the joy that no one can take away, hope that does not disappoint, and love that never ends.

Lord, we thank you for calling us in this time of Advent to the world of silence, silence, which is not an escape or cowardice, but a path to you, a path to another person, a way to yourself, a way to the depth and beauty of life.