Before Christ's Christmas coming and His Second Coming, we need to make a highway in the desert. We need this highway so we can return to the Lord from the exile of sin and so the Lord can return to take us from our exile on earth (see 1 Pt 2:11) to our heavenly home. This desert highway is both for us (Bar 5:7) and the Lord to use (Lk 3:4). We are to use the highway first to get out of the exile of sin. Then Jesus will come on it to take us home from our exile on earth.

We construct and travel this highway by repentance — deep repentance, "a baptism of repentance" (Lk 3:3). By repentance, we fill in the emptiness of sin's "death valley" and level mountains of pride and inflated egos (Lk 3:5). As we confess our sins, the Lord makes straight (Lk 3:5) our winding excuses, rationalizations, unrealistic denials, and self-deceptions. The rough, jagged, cutting, harmful edges of our selfish attitudes are made smooth through repentance, forgiveness, Confession, and reconciliation (Lk 3:5).

Make and drive the highway of repentance into Christmas and heaven.

Rescript:  †Most Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Auxiliary Bishop, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, June 26, 2015

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