原文|Bishop Barron

翻译|Carrie

朋友们，在今天的福音中，耶稣敦促我们为祂光荣的来临做好准备。这让我想起洗者若翰为我们做好思想准备：“你们当预备上主的道路，修直他的途径。”他在说他要做的是为主的伟大来临铺好路。变化将要出现、革命将至、一场灾难（陈旧的破除）将要发生。我们要为主铺路。

 

以什么方式准备？即悔改的洗礼。洗礼—浸入水中—让公元一世纪的犹太人想起《出谷纪》中祖先穿越红海，背弃奴役。

 

而悔改（metanoia）则是超越你现有的思想。我们的思想是如此受制于堕落的尘世啊！历史又是如此深深地塑造和妨碍着我们的期望啊！提庇留、比拉多、黑落德和盖法的世界塑造了我们的想象力。若翰在说我们是时候要有新思想、新眼光、新期望。天主即将行动！

 

我们要准备好！

 

Friends, in today's Gospel Jesus urges us to be ready for his second coming. It reminds me of John the Baptist preparing us: "Make ready the way of the Lord, clear him a straight path." He is saying that his job is to prepare for the mighty coming of the Lord. A change is coming, a revolution is on the way, a disaster (the destruction of the old) is about to happen. Prepare the way of the Lord.

 

And what is the manner of preparation? It is a baptism of repentance. Baptism—an immersion in water—reminded first-century Jews of the exodus, passing through the Red Sea, leaving the ways of slavery behind.

 

And repentance (metanoia), going beyond the mind that you have. How our minds are conditioned by the fallen world! How our expectations are shaped, stunted by what has gone before. The world of Tiberius and Pilate and Herod and Caiaphas has shaped our imagination. It's time, John is saying, for a new mind, a new set of eyes, a new kind of expectation. God is about to act!

 

Be ready!