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ohn the Baptist seems to spring on the stage in the Gospel According to Matthew, all dressed in camel's hair and leather belt, chewing on locusts and wild honey.  He attracted large crowds by his preaching, taking dead aim at the most politically and religiously influential people in Judea: the Pharisees and Sadducees, no doubt to the delight of the ordinary folks.  His message was a simple one, "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"  His imagery is pretty strong stuff.  But the evangelist Matthew is careful to have John the Baptist identify himself as the herald of someone greater.  That person would be the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy in the first scripture for today.  

     Isaiah's words today may stir an old memory in many of us from the time we received the Sacrament of Confirmation.  The "spirit of the Lord" that Isaiah speaks about will bring what we called the "seven gifts of the Holy Spirit:" wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, fortitude, piety and fear of the Lord!  Remember those?  Well, in this time of Advent, John the Baptist is pointing the finger at us and asking, "What are YOU doing with those gifts?"  The Spirit of the Lord that comes to Jesus upon his baptism by John is the same spirit that comes to all of us in the sacrament of Confirmation.  

     The season of Advent is all about "the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"  Repentance is part of the preparation but so are gifts.  The gifts of the Holy Spirit come wrapped in human persons whose faith and compassion in this season can do a lot of good for those who have lost the meaning of "the reason for the season: the coming of Christ.  We don't even have to wear camel's hair or eat wild locusts.  We just have to put skin on our faith so that the kingdom of heaven can be as near and real as possible.  AMEN