As the Advent season continues to prepare us for Christmas and for the coming of Christ, we are drawn to two of the major players in “preparing the way for the Lord”; John the Baptist and St. Joseph. Both give us an example and wisdom about how to put into practice the will of God in our lives.

Throughout Advent, we meet John the Baptist calling the people of Jesus’ time to conversion. It seems that the people of Israel had grown rather tepid in the day-to-day practice of their faith. In addition, the occupation by the Romans had led to government toleration of the practice of the faith, but also to restrictions in order to protect the power of the authorities. Does it sound familiar?

In John the Baptist, with his clarion cry in the desert calling upon people to repent, to truly change their lives, the fundamental choice of life is placed before the people once again.

Do they choose to put God first and foremost in their lives, especially their moral lives, or will they choose a lifestyle that either rejects the Lord or, perhaps, gives a merely symbolic nod to faith while living a life indistinguishable from that of the pagans?

John shows that he is “all in” for Christ. He demonstrates to the people that, whatever their state in life, to be for Jesus is to make a radical commitment of faith and life.

And that commitment may well end up being costly. John the Baptist will offer up his own life while being faithful to God as he opposes the power of Herod and defends marriage.

In our own age when we are so often being urged to seek comprises, especially with society and our moral convictions, the steadfastness of John the Baptist as he prepares people for the coming of Christ speaks to our own hearts.

In St. Joseph, we have a quiet but equally compelling Advent example of faithfulness in life.

He agrees to enter into marriage, taking Mary as his wife and becoming the foster father of the Messiah. His fidelity to marriage and family, come what may (think of the worry and stress that he must have felt as he helped the expecting Mary on the way to Bethlehem, or as he hastened the mother and child to flee to Egypt ahead of the advancing soldiers) reminds us that each of us discovers God’s plan as we go along.

God does not always show us the twists and turns that He has planned for us in advance. Consider, for example, every bride and groom on their wedding day, committing themselves to each other and to God, but with no way of knowing what the coming years will bring. They set out following the example of St. Joseph who trusts God and remains faithful, even when times are tough and it can be tempting to seek an easier way than continuing to live the life of faith.

We cannot escape the increasingly secular nature of our American society. Powerful social currents try to move us, and in a particular way to move our young people, to a view of the world and of life that either abandons God or at least makes Him to be irrelevant outside of a ritualized hour or so on Sunday.

St. John the Baptist and St. Joseph remind us not to lose heart or to compromise the teachings of Jesus and our Catholic faith. The activism of John and the quiet resolve of Joseph lead us in different ways to the same conclusion: Jesus’s coming at Christmas changed the world forever.

Advent helps us to rededicate ourselves to living the life he taught us, and to prepare for the moment when he will come again.