One day a young father was walking through the supermarket, pushing his cart, and in the basket was his three-year-old son. And the little boy was not happy about being there, and so he was crying loudly, putting up a bit of a fuss, and as the father was putting the groceries in, the little boy was trying to throw the groceries out.

And so this woman was observing this whole scene, and as the father pushed the cart through the supermarket, he kept saying in a very calm voice, “Now be patient, Billy. Be calm, Billy. Everything’s going to be okay, Billy.” And the woman who was watching this scene just couldn’t help herself, and so she went up to the young father and said, “Sir, I’m so impressed with how soothing you are speaking to your young son, your child, Billy.” And the man looked at the woman and said, “Miss, I’m Billy.”

We’re here at the second Sunday of Advent Things are certainly ramping up as we move towards Christmas. What are those things in our minds and our hearts and our souls that are threatening our peace of mind and heart and soul? Today, John the Baptist tells us to prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his path. And that path is not created with pick ax and shovel in hand, but it’s a way that is paved or created through our trust and our love for God and our following that love of Jesus in our own hearts.

It’s a path that is created with allowing our hearts to be open to receiving this great gift of God’s love. But like the story of that young father reminds us, there’s always something, a situation, maybe it’s someone or some thing that creates for us an obstacle to letting our hearts be fully open to that presence of God’s peace and strength and love in our own hearts.

And so today, John the Baptist says to us take the time and think about what are those obstacles to your peace of mind and heart, to making straight that path of God’s love into your heart through Jesus. Try to work on letting go of whatever that obstacle might be for you, and receive this gift of love.

Why? Why is that so important for us today? Because when we let go of those obstacles, we open our hearts up to a greater acceptance and receiving of God’s love, a deeper presence of that love in our hearts. And when we have that love, there’s only one other place it can go, and that’s out to others, and that is the true way of the Lord.