The Voice and the Word
“I am the voice crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord.’ “.
John 1:6-8.19-28
3rd SUN ADVENT
“I like your hair,” said the girl to the boy. The boy was not thrilled to hear this even if it meant that the girl was interested in him.
Through the months that followed however the boy grew to like her. This time it was the boy who spoke first and asked “Do you still like my hair?”
“I like your hair” like all statements carries with it a message. Depending on how one says it and depending on how one receives it, it carries a variety of messages ranging from a sweet “I really like you” to a platonic “Let’s just be friends”.
Although the voice carries with it a portion of the message, still the more important part is always the word “I like your hair”. Especially when the voice disappears into oblivion as it always does, the word is still there in memory waiting for a recall.
In Today’s gospel reading John calls himself the “voice”, in contrast to Jesus who is the “Word”. We hear the voice only once and immediately after we forget how it sounds. But the message or better the word that it spoke remains ringing in our ears and even penetrates deep into our hearts, remains etched in our memory. The voice we forget but not the word that has the meaning which we always recall every time we say the word.
Three candles are lit on the Advent Wreathe. Its brightness reminds us that Christmas is near. It is timely to ask ourselves how much of Jesus we keep for our recall. Or is Jesus simply the voice for us that fades from our life soon after it comes.
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