John the Baptist had the task of preparing the way for Jesus. If you remember the story of the sower and the seed, you will remember that the seed that took root and flourished was the seed that landed on good ground.
John's job was to till the soil of the people's hearts and bring them to repentance, so that they would be "good soil" for the seeds of the Good News that Jesus would bring. Even when people asked him if he was the Messiah, he denied it and pointed the way to Jesus.
During the Passover Seder, the Jewish families will leave an empty place at the table for Elijah and if a person knocks on the door during the meal, they will invite that person in just in case he is Elijah. They are still waiting for the Messiah, and, by extension, they are still waiting for Elijah.
Because they want to keep the promise of the covenant in the minds of their children, they also repeat the Exodus story each Passover. They want to make sure that the seed is good.
We need to make sure that our soil and the soil of our children is also good and fertile and will welcome the seeds of faith. At this time of year, we have the perfect opportunity to do this by telling the story of Christmas and also the story of Jesus' life, death and resurrection.
Perhaps the youngest child able to read could read the story of Jesus' birth from the Bible. What we read aloud stays in the mind longer than a story read by another.
We also need to nurture that seed by sharing our experience of Jesus in our own lives; how our faith is important to us and brings us joy.
Just like John, we too are asked to prepare the way for the Lord.
