This week we enter into the second Sunday of Advent and we lit two purple candles on our Advent wreath. The first purple candle lit is for the first week, the prophet's candle symbolizing hope, reminding us that Jesus is coming. Then, as we enter the second week of Advent, another purple candle is lit, the Bethlehem Candle of Faith, reminding us of Mary and Joseph's journey to Bethlehem.
What did their journey look like? It was hard, especially for Mary, since she was close to giving birth. But they were forced to leave Nazareth and travel to Bethlehem to register for a census as ordered by the Emperor Augustus. They had to travel ninety miles to the city of Joseph's ancestors. It was a fairly grueling trip, especially because the road was not just flat, but there was some uphill and downhill. Most likely Mary and Joseph would have traveled only ten miles a day because of Mary's impending delivery. And the trip through the Judean desert would have taken place during the winter, when the temperature is in the 30’s during the day and at night it would be freezing. Imagine that scenario.
To protect themselves during inclement weather, Mary and Joseph would likely have worn heavy woolen cloaks, constructed to shed rain and snow. They had to bring their own provisions—probably water in wineskins and a lot of bread. Breakfast would be dried bread, lunch would be oil with bread, and herbs with oil and bread in the evening.
That must have been extremely hard for Mary. And their hardships did not end when they arrived in Bethlehem because of the over crowdedness in the city. They were forced to seek lodging at a primitive inn where Jesus was born in a stable. That was how difficult the journey was for Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem.
No wonder in our gospel this Second Sunday of Advent, we have John the Baptist preparing the way of the Lord and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. He did this to make the people aware of who is coming after him, “one mightier than him”, and he asked them to prepare.
As we get nearer to the coming of Christmas, we are also asked to prepare in order to welcome the Lord with a clean heart and mind. Hopefully, our preparation is not just external, like beautifying our homes with Christmas decoration, shopping, Christmas gifts or food on our table for Christmas, but also something internal and spiritual like receiving the sacrament of reconciliation, attending mass and making others happy by our charity or works of mercy.