December 20 – Hindsight is 20/20
Each Advent we hear a lot in our readings about John the Baptist. An experienced preacher once told me that it is hard going thinking of new and innovative ways of preaching about John as it gets towards this point in the season. Most of the things that are important to say have already been said by others earlier on. How do you say the same thing again, in a different way, when Fr. X said it so well the other week? Having said that, when we get to today’s Gospel, that whole process of underlining the importance of John seems to me to have been well worth while. Why so, you may ask? Today’s Gospel gives us the account of the Annunciation to Mary and not another part of the story of John the Baptist. In any case, the events in John’s life that we have been focusing on up to this point – his preaching and call to repentance – are much later, years after the Annunciation.
