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HOMILY BY FR. DOMINIC ON MK 1: 1 - 8
For most people Christmas is a season for shopping. Malls are doing a lot of “advertising tricks” to call the attention of the buying public. Oftentimes having good window display is not enough; they need convincing voice of good sales agents to draw more people into their stores. Sometimes they even go as far as hiring known media personalities to endorse their products and to speak well on behalf of their company.   
In today’s Gospel we have John the Baptist, an extra ordinary “agent” sent by God to speak on behalf of His Son. He was the voice that shouts in the wilderness “to sell” the plan of God to his people: “Prepare the way of the Lord make straight his path …” He is the Voice that speaks well of the name of His Son.
When John summoned men and women to repentance he was confronting them with a decision that they knew in their heart of hearts they ought to make.  Plato once said that education did not consist in telling people new things; it consisted in extracting from their memories what they already knew.  No message is so effective as that which speaks to a person’s conscience.   The people had been longing for some authentic word of God, and in John they heard it.  John’s message was effective because of his character and conviction. Let us see now how it is applied to our life.
John spoke with great courage and honesty. If for Isaiah, the prophet of hope, his credential is his prophesies, because they all came true. For John it was quite different, much deeper than that. His credential is his Life. And when he talks, he talks directly from the heart with all honesty until his death (on the hands of Herod). He lived what he preached./ Sometimes when you give good advices to your children, do you notice that they pause first for a while and have a special look at you, before they truly listen? My dear parents, that looks means something. Perhaps they are trying to see first in your life what you are telling them. “Witnessing is the best expression of one’s credibility.”  
John was the voice that is crying out in the desert. The desert is the place of nothingness. There is simply no water, no food – it is so quiet and bare. For John nothing was there, except God. It is perfect place to have an encounter with God in the complete silence and prayer. That’s the reason why people believed in him. People believed that he was always in contact with God, thus, his words become the voice of God./ It is good that you bring your children to the church and see you praying, when they noticed that you are always talking to God, you can easily convince them because your advices and decisions will be seen as coming not from you, but from God.     
John prepared the way of the Lord by living simply.” If we will only try to reduce commercialism during Christmas and put more time in silence and prayer then we can see clearly the real essence of Christmas: “it is the season to share and to love.” It is a season not to get more, but an opportunity to give more. Only in the simplicity of heart that we can see the true meaning of the season: God was born into the world to forgive us and to embrace us with his love once again
God has chosen the best “agent” to sell the saving act of His Son – The “Voice” that sells not by word but by the very witnessing of his life. As Christians, we can also be God’s agents in the present time, by telling ourselves and other people to prepare our hearts well. If we can sell enough, this saving act being offered by Jesus, we deserve a great commission: the commission of happiness and love in eternal life.