In The Desert: Third Sunday of Advent (A)

The image of the desert held a powerful hold on the spiritual imaginations of the Jewish people. Their passage through the desert from the slavery of Egypt to the joy of the Promised Land forged their identity as a people...a people of God. It is no great surprise, then, that it is in the desert that John the Baptist prepares his people for a new chapter in this great story. From the desert, he calls God's People to prepare for God to save them anew, in a deeper, fuller way even than before. The desert shall bloom, the lame will walk,, the blind will see, and the poor shall have the good news proclaimed to them!

This homily was preached at Our Lady of Fatima Church in Spokane, Washington.