Gospel text : John 1:6-8, 19-28
Michel DeVerteuilGeneral Comments
Mark’s gospel has only a brief section on John the Baptist, and so in this Year B the reading for the Third Sunday of Advent is taken from St John.
The passage is clearly in two sections: the first is an extract from the prologue to St John’s gospel, and the second is from St John’s account of the ministry of John the Baptist.
To get the full meaning of verses 6 to 8 it would be necessary to go back to the previous verse of the prologue in which St John affirms that light always shines in the dark and darkness cannot overpower this light. In this perspective the passage says that John was sent by God with the mission to “speak for the light,” a powerful metaphor of a lawyer bearing testimony that the light is trustworthy.
Verses 19 to 21 give us a first dialogue between John the Baptist and the people whom St John calls “the Jews”, meaning those who are reluctant to accept God’s word. Enter into the personality of the Baptist as he, with growing impatience, refuses to allow himself to be put into any categories – a model of the great person establishing his own unique identity, just as the messengers are like us when we try to fit God’s new word into some time-worn category, putting new wine into old wineskins.
Verses 24 to 27 show us once more the humility of John the Baptist, using the same metaphors we had in last Sunday’s passage, although here we have in addition the contrast between him and “Christ”, “Elijah”, and “the prophet”. Let yourself be touched also by the Baptist’s conviction (not mentioned in St Mark’s account) that “the one who is to come after” is actually standing there even though the community does not see him.Verse 28 is very symbolic: John is baptising on the far side of the Jordan, far away from the religious centers of the time.
in our church community, in our family, in our own hearts.
Eventually it gets us down. We become cynical and settle for mediocrity.
We thank you that someone always comes on the scene,
sent by you as a witness to speak for the light:
– on the world scene, people like Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa;
– in our country, teachers, workers, community leaders;
– a grandparent, one of our children, a friend.
They bear witness to the rest of us that somewhere in the dark
a light always shines,
a light that darkness cannot overpower,
and therefore we can all believe again.
Lord, goodness is always small, very frail and vulnerable,whereas evil is loud and self-assertive,
dominating the news and our conversations.
We pray that your church may always speak for the light,
so that through her people might believe.
Lord, we get frustrated when we see the shortcomings of your church,
or our personal shortcomings.
That is because we have become self-important,
forgetting that we are not the light, only witnesses to speak for the light.
Lord, when someone speaks your word to us,
we look for endless reasons not to respond,
we put the person into a category –
“the same old message,” we say, “just another of those do-gooders,
we have heard it all before.”
We thank you for the times when your word became something new,
a voice penetrating right into the wilderness we were in,
so that we heard it and entered into a new relationship with you.
whereas we leave others untouched:
– the world of economics and politics is cold and heartless;
– the food policies of the wealthy nations are causing famine among the poor;
– workplaces know only suspicion and confrontation.
Help us to be your voice crying out in those wildernesses
that you want to be present there too with your love and compassion,
and they must open themselves to you.
Lord, we feel incompetent.
We ask ourselves how we can be preaching your gospel
when we are so far from being the Christ,
a great prophet like Elijah, or the promised Messiah.
Help us to be content to baptise with water,
trusting that you are standing with us even though we do not experience your presence,
that you will come after us and put right all we have done wrong,
and we are not fit to undo your sandal strap.
Lord, forgive us that we become complacent in your church,as if grace is at work among us only.
Forgive us too that we become discouraged when we find the church not doing enough.
Remind us that John is baptising on the far side of the Jordan.
********************************************************
Thomas O’Loughlin
Introduction to the Celebration
Today is the day of John the Baptist. He was the last of the prophets whose mission was to bear witness to the Lord when he came among his people. He prepared the way for the Anointed One and pointed him out. Today John is the model for every one of us: we are called be prophets in our world; we are called to bear witness to the Christ; in the wilderness of human greed, injustice, and falsehood we are called to make straight the way of the Lord.
1. The last century has been littered by people who have claimed to have all the answers to the great human questions and who are only too willing share their ‘wisdom’ with everyone else.There have been the great dictators: Lenin, Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Mao – all knew what the world needed and left a trail of destruction in their wake.
Then there was a veritable army of lesser despots who knew the answers for everyone and were prepared to put up with any amount of suffering to impose their expert solutions.
Then there are the experts in personal affairs: how to get this right, or to do that properly, or how to be successful or slim or happy in ten lessons. All you have to do is buy their book or video and follow the instructions.
At this time of year there are even a slew of books on how to have the perfect Christmas, or Christmas party, or perfect Christmas cooking! All these experts have something in common: look to me and I will solve your problems. And, of course, there is no shortage of religious experts of every make and shape who have a sure-fire, quick and simple route to happiness and bliss.
2. Faced with such experts, many of us instinctively recoil for there is something deep inside us that says it cannot be a simple as that or there would not be such bother or that life is always more complex than the clarity provided in the various expert solutions. On the other hand, many of us faced with the complexity of the world and its problems long for a simple solution that will deliver security, clarity, and some happiness. So the experts are never without disciples (or people at least willing to listen to them or buy their books): and for many of the ‘experts’, that is success enough.
4. Here lies the style of the witness of everyone who recognises the Christ: we point away from ourselves and towards the One who is to come, the One who brings the universe to its completion.
5. But does this mean that we present ‘Jesus as the answer to everything’? This is certainly a mode of witness that many Christians are eager to adopt. Jesus has the answer to every one of life’s problems. Jesus will make you happy. Jesus will make you secure. Jesus will give you the answers to all your questions from where the universe came from to what is the best way to vote. Or as the old school joke has it: whenever a religion teacher asks you a question, the safest answer to give is ‘Jesus’. The ‘Jesus is the Answer’ of advertising hoardings is not the Jesus we hear proclaimed in John’s gospel.
6. For John the gospel-writer Jesus is the way and that begins in a wilderness and while it does end in triumph, that triumph is the cry ‘It is completed’ upon the cross. As John pointed beyond himself and bore witness to the Christ, the Christ points beyond himself and bears witness to the Father (Jn 5:33-36). The Anointed One does not invite us to adopt a set of answers, much less sure-success remedies to life’s problems, but to embark on his way, to adopt his style, and to begin that journey from the midst of whatever wilderness we inhabit.
7. His way is the way of justice, gentleness, peace, and integrity. The Anointed One, the Christ, fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah, and commends it to his followers as their way. For the spirit of the Lord has been given to us, we have been anointed so that we are made part of the whole Christ:
Sean Goan
Gospel notes
The Joy of Waiting
Voices of Advent to bring God near – The central message within all the voices of Christmas. God’s Christmas voice is I love you, you are all brothers and sisters, and nothing except love is final.
Not just a voice…but actively loving in word and deed. One way of touching that love is the Mass. Jesus is not really love from the sky, but food of the Eucharist, that nourishes us and makes a difference. We bring our ordinary concerns to Mass, and let God lighten them and transform them, and enlighten us with his word. The voice of God makes sense of and brings light into the ordinariness of life.
God is present in his word, and in his body – we wait in joy for the Word to be made flesh.
****
From the Connections:
Forms of “baptism” were common in the Judaism of Gospel times – in some Jewish communities, it was through baptism rather than circumcision that a Gentile became a Jew. But John’s baptism was distinctive: His baptism at the Jordan was a rite of repentance and metanoia, a conversion of heart and spirit. The Baptizer’s ministry fulfilled the promise of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 36: 25-26): that, at the dawn of a new age, the God of Israel would purify his people from their sins with clear water and instill in them a new heart and spirit.
Through baptism, we take on the role of “Christ-bearers.” Like John’s proclamation at the River Jordan, we are called to be witnesses of God's love by the love we extend to others; precursors of his justice by our unfailing commitment to what is right and good; lamps reflecting the light of God's Christ in our forgiveness, mercy and compassion.
All of us have been called by God to the work of “prophet”: to use whatever talents and skills we possess to transform the wastelands around us into harvests of justice and forgiveness, to create highways for our God to enter and re-create our world in his compassion and peace.
****
ILLUSTRATIONS:
1. From Fr. Tony Kadavil:
1: “Have You Ever Heard John Preach?” As Rev.
Fred Craddock once asked, “Have You Ever Heard John Preach?” John the Baptizer
was easily the most famous preacher of his generation. The historian Josephus
once wrote that in his estimation, this man John was a vastly more important
and impressive figure than his cousin Jesus. Even years after Jesus’ death and
Resurrection, when the apostles visited the city of Ephesus to proclaim the
Gospel, they ran across a large building that called itself “The First Church
of John the Baptizer.” The members of this congregation had all been baptized
in the name of John. When the apostles inquired if they had been baptized in
the name of Jesus, the people replied, “Who’s that? Never heard of him.” Years
earlier it was John, not Jesus, who got King Herod’s attention and was
consequently arrested and eventually executed by that monarch. Once Jesus began
to make a bit of a stir himself, Herod’s first reaction was to say, “That must
be John again! He’s back from the dead!” Most scholars believe that the Gospel
of John, as written by John the Apostle, places Jesus in the correct
perspective, assigning to John the Baptist the role of a witness and
forerunner. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
# 2: St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) and Advent
joy: Through her ministry in Jesus’ name, Mother Teresa brought untold
blessings and joy to the poor who lay unattended and forgotten on our streets.
When asked about the source of her joy, Mother Teresa replied: “Joy is prayer — joy
is strength — joy is love — joy is a net of love. . . A joyful heart is the
normal result of a heart burning with love . . . loving as He loves, helping as
He helps, giving as He gives, serving as He serves, rescuing as He rescues,
being with Him twenty-four hours, touching Him in His distressing disguise.”
(Malcolm Muggeridge, Something Beautiful for God, Harper and Row,
San Francisco: 1971). When Advent arrived every year, Mother Teresa’s life,
continued to witness the joy which is true hallmark of every Christian and the
rightful inheritance of all the poor. (Patricia Datchuck Sánchez). Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
# 3: Valesa – a Nightmare is a
docu-drama written in Poland under a pseudonym and then smuggled out of the
country. It tells the story of political prisoners like Lech Walesa. Near the
end of the play a prisoner priest, who usually offers a solitary Mass, is
joined by the rest of the prisoners at considerable risk to celebrate the
Eucharist. At this moment, the play reaches a climax with the deafening scream
of crows – a Polish symbol for the Communist military regime under General
Jaruzelski. The cawing of the crows suddenly gives way to the soft chirping of
spring birds and the comforting notes of a piano concerto – a symbol of the
optimism of the Polish people that one day their quest for religious and
political freedom will be realized. Valesa – a Nightmare shows
how Christ can come into our lives even in the worst of circumstances. The Lord
came to Lech Walesa in a Communist prison through Walesa’s Faith and prayers,
through his Polish culture and pride, through his fellow political prisoners
and through the Sacrament of the Eucharist. (Albert Cylwicki in His
Word Resounds) Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
4) Like a bride bedecked: When Lady Diana Spencer was preparing for her wedding to the Prince of Wales, every effort was made by designers David and Elizabeth Emanuel, and, in fact, by all the planners of the wedding, to prevent the design of the bride’s dress from being revealed before the ceremony on July 29, 1981. Of course, the other dressmakers of Britain did their best to learn the secret in advance. The sooner they could start making copies, the quicker they could sell them to other prospective brides who would want to be married in gowns “just like Lady Di’s.” Fortunately, the secret was perfectly kept. Only at 5:30 AM on the wedding day did Buckingham Palace release to the news media a sketch of the wedding dress. Probably the real purpose behind our custom of not letting a groom see his bride in her wedding dress before they reach the church, is that he may behold his chosen one in that moment at the absolute peak of her beauty. How pleased Charles must have been when he saw his bride, her natural handsomeness enhanced by this rich and dazzling garment. Perhaps he even thought of the familiar words of the psalm, “All glorious is the king’s daughter as she enters; her raiment is threaded with spun gold” (45:54). But the Church has always seen the festal dress of a bride and groom as something more than a device to please the eyes of the marrying couple. It is rather a symbol of the beauty of the souls of those who take each other in marriage. Or, if these souls are perhaps not yet perfect, their garb should at least remind them, “As you have clothed your bodies in loveliness, now clothe your souls in grace.”“… He has clothed me with a robe of salvation … like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem, like a bride bedecked with her jewels.” (Isaiah, 61:10-11.) Today’s first reading.-(Father Robert F. McNamara). Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
5. Christian home:
After the Baptism of his baby brother in Church one Sunday, little Johnny
sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car. His father asked him
three times what was wrong. Finally, the boy replied, “That priest said he
wanted us brought up in a Christian home, but I want to stay with you guys!”
Father got the message, and they began to go to Church regularly… Needless to
say, the family had a bit of catching up to do. But one day the Sunday
School Teacher asked Johnny, “Now, Johnny, tell me – do you say prayers
before eating?” “No ma’am,” little Johnny replies, “I don’t have to. My
Mom is a good cook.”
6. Sign on a church
bulletin board: “Merry Christmas to our Christian friends. Happy Hanukkah to
our Jewish friends. And to our atheist friends, good luck.
7. (Anglican humor) What are you wearing on
Gaudete Sunday, Sister?
8. Heaven and hell on your face: A drama teacher was
instructing his students about acting. He was trying to get them to realize the
idea that they convey the message in their faces. When they are doing different
scenes in a play, they have to project whatever that scene is on their face. He
used the example of Heaven and Hell. Their faces should look very different if
they are talking about Heaven or if they are talking about Hell. He said to the
students, “When you are talking about Heaven, your faces should light up. Your
smiles should radiate, and your eyes should look to the skies. People should be
able to see Heaven on your faces.” He said, “When you are talking about Hell,
well, your normal faces will do.” Let there be heaven on your face on “Gaudete
Sunday.
1) “Are you OK?” There is an old story of a
father who, on a dark, stormy night amid the thunder’s crash and the
lightning’s flash, awakened and thought of his small son alone in his bedroom
upstairs who might be scared of it all. So he rushed upstairs with his flashlight
to check on the boy to see if he was all right. He was flashing the light
around the room when the boy awakened, and said, with a startled cry, “Who’s
there? Who’s in my room?” The father’s first thought was to flash his light in
the face of the boy, but then he thought, “No. If I do that, I will frighten
him all the more.” So he turned the light on his own face. And the little boy
said, “Oh, it’s you, Dad.” The father said, “Yes, it’s Dad. I’m just up here
checking on things. Everything’s OK, so go on back to sleep.” And the little
boy did. That is what the Incarnation is all about: God’s shining the light in
His own face so that you and I might know that everything really is OK. Fr.
Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
2) Rejoicing worshippers: There is a story told
about a man from Louisville, Kentucky, who had to travel to St. Louis on
business. This was years ago when Christians kept Sunday as a very
special day. For this man, “keeping the Sabbath,” also meant not riding
the trains on Sunday. Thus, after he finished up his business late
Saturday night, he had to stay over in St. Louis until Monday morning. On
Sunday morning, he left the hotel looking for a place to worship. The streets
were quite deserted, but finally, he saw a policeman and asked him for
directions to the nearest Church. The stranger thanked the policeman for the
information and was about to walk off when he turned and asked the policeman:
“Why have you recommended that particular Church? It looks like a Catholic
Church. There must be several Churches nearby that you could have
recommended.” The policeman smiled and replied: “I’m not a Church man
myself, but the people who come out of that Church are the happiest looking
Church-people in St. Louis, and they claim that they have received Jesus and
they are happily taking him to their homes. I thought that would be the
kind of Church you would like to attend.” The Scripture for today reminds us
that every Sunday in every Christian church must be a Gaudete Sunday or
“Rejoice Sunday.” Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
3) “Return of a Runaway Child.” On January 7,
1980, Katheleen drove her daughter, Wavie, to Citrus High School in Inverness,
Florida. It was the last time she would see Wavie for a long time. When her
sixteen-year-old daughter did not return from school that day, Katheleen and
her husband, Jesse, sought help from the police, the FBI, the governor, and
even from national TV networks. Jesse and Katheleen, working people, were not
about to give up. They printed thousands of fliers and delivered stacks of
bulletins to truck stops across Florida and Georgia. Thousands of people
responded. Some said they saw her. Exhausting many of their resources, they
never gave up. On Tuesday, June 29, 1982, they received a call that located
Wavie in Twin Cities, Georgia. By six o’clock the next morning, Wavie’s parents
were in the tiny Georgia town, overjoyed at finding their daughter. Later, Wavie
told her story. She really had not intended to run away from home. But on that
January day, friendly strangers had offered her a ride to a nearby truck
stop–and then on to Georgia. The farther she got away from home, the more
frightened she was of being punished for leaving. Each hour away from home made
it harder to return. She feared the reunion. Dozens of times she had dialed her
parent’s phone number, but hung up in panic before they answered. She was
afraid of returning home at the very same time her parents were exhausting all
of their resources to find her. [Gary Turbak, “Return of a Runaway
Child,” Reader’s Digest (November 1982), pp. 97-102.] — The
great beauty of the Christmas message is that God hasn’t given up the search
for us. Into the world of darkness, the Great Light came to lead us back
home. “The true Light that enlightens every man was coming into the
world” (John 1:9). In today’s Gospel, John the Baptist introduces this “Light
of the world.” Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
4) “Come home for Christmas”: Dr. Fred B. Craddock
tells of a young couple securing the professional services of a real estate
agent to find them a “home”. The real estate agent responded by saying, “I can
find you a house but not a home.” The agent was right. Only Christ can make a
“Home.” Yes, we can come home for Christmas, come home to the God Who is
searching for us–and Who is the only One who can give us a home. We can come
home to God Who can set us “free” again. We don’t have to come home for
Christmas only in our dreams. We can come home by accepting Jesus Christ as our
personal Lord and Savior today. He is asking us, “Will you come?”
5) “Would you mind handing in the broom?”” There is
an old story of a small boy who was asked on a dark night to go out on the back
porch and bring in a broom. He was afraid. There was no light out there. And he
frankly told his parents that he was scared of the dark. His parents reassured
him, “You don’t need to be scared. God is everywhere. He is with you even in
the dark.” So the boy went to the back door, opened a crack, and whispered,
“God, if You’re really out there, would You mind handing in the broom?” None of
us enjoys the dark, and if we, with all of our scientific knowledge and
understanding of our world are still uneasy about darkness, just imagine how
infinitely worse was the plight of primitive people. To understand the force of
Jesus’ claim to be the Light of the world, we must remember just how much light
meant to people in ancient times.
6) “When you got something like that on your back, you
know you’re somebody!” Several decades ago, All in the Family poked
fun at the red-neck, blue-collar, bigots of America through the lead bigot,
Archie Bunker. On one show, Archie told his wife Edith that he wanted to be on
the bowling team so bad that he could taste it! He described the bowling shirts
that the Cannonballers wore: all yellow silk, with bright red piping on the
collar and sleeves. And on the back, there’s a picture of a cannon firing a
bowling ball at the set of pins. He said, “When you got something like that on
your back, Edith, you know you’re somebody!” [Raymond Gibson, Minister’s
Annual (Abingdon, 1987), ed. by Jim & Doris Morentz.] That show
was satirizing the notion that a man could gain a sense of identity and
importance from being a part of a bowling team and wearing a gaudy shirt. But
that anecdote raises the questions, “Who are you? What is the source of your
identity? How should your sense of who you are before God as a Christian shape
how you live and what you do?” Our text shows us that John the Baptizer was a
man who was clear on who he was not and who he was. He was also clear on who
Jesus is. So he was able to point others clearly to Jesus as the only Savior
whom they desperately needed. (Rev. Steven C. Cole) Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
7) Prepare the way for Him! A religious
sociologist, Dr. Dean Hoge, has written a book entitled Converts, Dropouts and
Returnees. Very briefly, he narrates his experiences with individuals who
either left the Catholic Church or had been reconverted, and what led them to
make that important decision. And he found that “the happiest Catholics were
the dropout Catholics” –persons who had left the Catholic Church for a time,
but returned. Even more, he found that the best recruiters of dropout Catholics
are the dropouts themselves. More specifically, Dr. Dean Hoge found that
two-thirds of the thousands of Catholics who return to the Faith each year do
so because a neighbor, a friend or a relative invited them to return. This is
where each and every one of us can play a vital role in the return of many. And
we could begin just by inviting them to attend a service this Christmas. We
have been anointed for this very specific outreach; so let the Holy Spirit
speak through you in preparing the way for the Lord. (James Valladares in Your
words, O Lord, Are Spirit, and They are Life, p. 13). Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
8) The cutest smile of inner joy: A number of
years ago, young college student was working as an intern at his college’s
Museum of Natural History. One day while working at the cash register in the
gift shop, he saw an elderly couple come in with a little girl in a wheelchair.
As he looked closer at this girl, he saw that she was kind of perched on her
chair. The student realized that she had no arms or legs, just a head, neck and
torso. She was wearing a little white dress with red polka dots. As the couple
wheeled her up to the checkout counter, he turned his head toward the girl and
gave her a wink. Meanwhile, he took the money from her grandparents and looked
back at the girl, who was giving him the cutest and the largest smile he had
ever seen. All of a sudden, her handicap was gone and all that the young man
saw was this beautiful girl, whose smile just melted him and almost instantly
gave him a completely new sense of what life is all about. She took him from
the world of an unhappy college student and brought him into her world — a
world of smiles, love and warmth. — With the lighting of Advent wreath’s third
candle, the rose one, and the priest’s wearing the rose vestments today, we are
reminded that we are called to live with joy in our world of sorrows and pain.
(HO) Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
9) “Rejoice always” the Lord is near: [This is a
little story from an Irish Lady]. I heard a knock at the door. Two children in
ragged, outgrown coats got inside as I opened the door. “Any old papers,
lady?” I was busy. I wanted to say no until I looked down at their
feet. Thin little sandals, sopped with sleet. “Come in, and I’ll
make you a cup of hot cocoa.” There was no conversation. Their
soggy sandals left marks upon the hearthstone. I served them cocoa and toast
with jam to fortify them against the chill outside. Then I went back to
the kitchen and started again on my household budget…. The silence in the front
room struck me. I looked in. The girl held the empty cup in her hands,
looking at it. The boy asked in a flat voice, “Lady…, are you
rich?” “Am I rich? Mercy, no!” I looked at my shabby
slipcovers. The girl put her cup back in its saucer carefully.
“Your cups match your saucers.” Her voice was old, with a hunger that was
not of the stomach. They left then, holding their bundles of papers
against the wind. They hadn’t said, “Thank you.” They didn’t need
to. They had done more than that. They told me that my plain blue pottery
cups and saucers matched. I boiled the potatoes and stirred the
gravy. Potatoes and brown gravy, a roof over my head and my man with a
good steady job: I was lucky. I moved the chairs back from the fire and tidied
the living room. The muddy prints of small sandals were still wet upon
the hearthstone. Were not they the footprints of the Lord who visited me to
intensify my joy by His presence? I let the prints remain. I want those
footprints there in case I ever forget again how very rich I am.
— The message in the first and the second reading is clear –
“rejoice always” for the Lord is near – and the Lord will surprise you because
you will find him not in the comfortable and the easy – but rather in the ones
who challenge us and wake us up as those children did the Irish lady (HO) Fr.
Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
10) Unfinished play: Nathaniel Hawthorne was an
American writer. When he died in 1864, he had on his desk the outline of a play
he never got a chance to finish. The play centered on a person who never
appeared on stage. Everyone talked about him. Everyone dreamed about him. Everyone
awaited his arrival. But he never came. All kinds of minor characters described
him. They told everybody what he would be like. They told everybody what he
would do. But the main character never appeared. The Old Testament is something
like Nathaniel Hawthorne’s play. It too ended without the main character
putting in an appearance. Everyone talked about the Messiah. Everyone dreamed
about him. Everyone awaited his arrival. But he never came. All kinds of
prophets, like Isaiah and Jeremiah, told the people what he would be like. They
told the people what he would do. But the Messiah never appeared until the time
of the last prophet John the Baptist. [Mark Link in Sunday
Homilies; quoted by Fr. Botelho.] Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
11) “Why are you outside?” – Not involved: Henry
David Thoreau was an American writer who authored the renowned essay “Civil
Disobedience.” He championed the freedom of the individual over the
law of the land. He distinguished between “law” and “right.” He wrote: “What
the majority passes is the ‘law,’ and what the individual conscience sees is
the ‘right’, and what matters most is the ‘right’ and not the ‘law’.” Once,
Thoreau was imprisoned for a night. He had refused to pay the poll-tax as a
protest against the government’s support of slavery and its unjust war against
Mexico, presumably in support of slave trade intentions. When he was arrested,
he hoped that some of his friends would follow his example and fill the jails,
and in this way persuade the government to change its stance on the issue of
slavery. In this he was disappointed. Not only did his friends not join him,
one friend paid the tax on his behalf and got him released the very next day.
When he was in the prison, Emerson, another American writer, came to visit him.
He said to Thoreau: “Thoreau, Thoreau, why are you inside (jail)?” And Thoreau
replied, “Emerson, Emerson, why are you outside?” Thoreau was a great lover of
truth. He suffered because he spoke and stood for truth. Emerson said in his
obituary of Thoreau, “He was a great speaker and actor of truth.” Today’s
Gospel presents the frankness and humility of John the Baptizer. [John Rose in John’s
Sunday Homilies; quoted by Fr. Botelho. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
12) Alice in Wonderland experience: When Alice
fell through the rabbit-hole into Wonderland, she was convinced that she had
fallen right through the earth and was destined to come out where people would
be upside down. She referred to such reversals as Antipathies—though she did
wonder whether or not that was the right word. Alice may not have chosen the
correct word, but she was on target when it came to identify the way we feel
when our world is turned upside down — that is, of course, when the reversal
that we experience resembles the collapse of the stock market. We would be
overcome by entirely different emotions if we had won the lottery. When she
finally landed, Alice discovered that the world was not upside down, but it
certainly was out of proportion to her size. She had to change, to get smaller
in order to enter that mysterious world. — The Third Sunday of Advent invites
us into a world of reversals, a world where the captives are freed, where the
hungry are filled and where the rich are sent away empty. It is certainly a
world where things are turned upside down. From the point of view of social
order, such reversals could be considered Antipathies. But from God’s point of
view, they are the signs of transformation. In order to appreciate the strength
of today’s message from Isaiah, we must remember that he was speaking to people
who were dispossessed, people in need of a message of hope, a promise of some
kind of economic reversal. This same description of reversal is found in the
passage from Luke. There we see that the lowly enjoy the blessings that God
promised long ago (Dianne Bergant). Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
13) Soap and the Gospel: A soap manufacturer and
a pastor were walking together down a street in a large city. The soap
manufacturer casually said, “The Gospel you preach hasn’t done much good, has
it? Just observe. There is still a lot of wickedness in the world, and a lot of
wicked people, too!” The pastor made no reply, until, they passed a little
child with dirty linen, making mud pies in the gutter. Seizing the opportunity,
the pastor said, “I see, that, soap hasn’t done much good in the world either;
for, there is much dirt still here, and many people with dirty linen are still
around.” The soap manufacturer said, “Oh, well, soap only works when it
is applied.” Then the pastor said, “Exactly! So it is with the
Gospel.” (Fr. Francis Chirackal C.M.I.) Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
14) The film, Pay It Forward, (based
on the novel by Catherine Ryan Hyde) has a premise that underlies the source of
joy and happiness celebrated in today’s liturgy. It tells the story
of a seventh-grade teacher (Eugene Simonet) and his eleven-year-old student
(Trevor). On the first day of class, the teacher puts this challenge on
the blackboard: “Think of something new that will change the world and
then act on what you have thought.” The idea captivates the boy, who
lives with his single parent, an alcoholic mother. The boy attempts to
put this idea into practice by helping people, who will, in turn, “pay it
forward” by helping others. The boy draws a circle in his homework book and
puts his name in the middle. From that circle, he extends three lines, at
the ends of which are three more circles. In the first circle he writes
his mother’s name. He will try to get her to give up her
alcoholism. In the second circle he writes the name of a classmate
who is being bullied by the larger boys in school. He will
make it his duty to defend this fellow. In the third circle, he
writes the name of his teacher, whom he will try to persuade to fall in
love with his mother. These are huge challenges for a
seventh-grade boy. The film then shows the steep obstacles he faces in
his attempt to improve his world. In the end, Pay It
Forward inspires us with the possibilities of making the world a
better place by transforming one person at a time through a series of
“random acts of kindness” and love. The movie teaches us that when
someone does a good deed for us, we should “pay it forward” by making “an act
of faith in the goodness of people.” The net result is lasting peace and
joy, the common theme of today’s readings. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
15) “I haven’t a shirt on my back.” There
was a mediaeval King who regularly used the advice of a wise man. This sage was
summoned to the King’s presence. The monarch asked him how the King could get
rid of his anxiety and depression of spirits, how he might be really happy and
full of joy, for he was sick in body and mind. The sage replied, “There is but
one cure for the King. Your majesty must sleep one night in the shirt of a
happy man.” Messengers were sent throughout the realm to search for a man who
was truly happy. But everyone who was approached had some cause for misery,
something that robbed them of true and complete happiness. At last they found a
man, a poor beggar, who sat smiling by the roadside and, when they asked him if
he was really happy, filled with joy and had no sorrows, he confessed that he
was a truly happy, joyful person. Then they told him what they wanted. The king
must sleep one night in the shirt of a happy man and had given them a large sum
of money to procure such a shirt. Would he sell them his shirt that the king
might wear it? The beggar burst into uncontrollable laughter, and replied, “I
am sorry I cannot oblige the king. I haven’t a shirt on my back.” Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
16) Making way for the light: In a lengthy interview a year before he died, the great sculptor Henry Moore reflected on how his early years in a Yorkshire mining village influenced his later work. “One of the first and strongest things I recall were the slag heaps, like Pyramids, like mountains. There were pit heaps all over – I remember our street and I can see the sun just managing to penetrate the fog, and the coal heap at the end.” -His father, a miner, was very fond of baked apples for pudding, and little Henry had to go to their dark cellar to fetch them. He was frightened of the dark, so he used to go down the steps sideways, always with one eye on the lightened doorway. Later when he was carving deep into his sculpture, he said he always felt he wanted to find a way out, remembering that cellar. Many of the Moore’s massive, sculptured forms have holes in them, but for him the holes have their own significance: what appears essential is left out; the light is let in. To many people his sculptures are just puzzling, but to many others they have a massive dignity. In the mining village where he grew up there was always competition between the sun and the fog, between the daylight and the pitch black of the mines, between a small child and the enormous slag heaps. In his work the light always wins, the child comes to shape the slag heaps into human form. [Denis McBride in Seasons of the Word; quoted by Fr. Botelho.] Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/). L/20
Waiting is foreign to our society. It seems unnatural. We hunger for immediate gratification. The idea of delayed satisfaction is a stranger to our thinking.
The symbols of our unwillingness to wait are all around us. Fast food chains boom because we don't have time to eat. We stand in crooked lines, then yell out an order, get it down in five minutes and then get back to the rat race. We haven't got time to sit down and read a book anymore. Perhaps it is a sign of the times that we have condensed versions of the Bible. In kitchens all over America there are gadgets to get the meal prepared quickly. I would guess Mr. Coffee started it all. Simply spoon in the coffee and pour water. The coffee is made before you can even find a cup. When we become sick we want to be made well now, not later. Medicine, doctors, pastoral care and love are often rejected if they are not swift.
I, like you, accept most of our no-wait approach to life, with the exception of instant potatoes, which are intolerable. But the truth is that, though we do not like waiting, waiting is a part of living. We must wait for payday, a break, quitting time, and for the mailman. When you do your Christmas shopping, you had certainly better be prepared to wait in a line to get checked out, wait to get a parking place, and wait through at least four red lights before making a left hand turn on Poplar Ave.
And that is where the story of Christmas really begins. It begins thousands of years before the birth of Christ. They longed for that one who would bring light out of darkness, and make the blind to see. They Longed for that one who would turn their sorrow into joy, and vanquish their enemies. But, God said, you must wait. Let us look at how God's people have waited throughout the ages...
- Waiting in the Old Testament
- John the Baptist's Waiting
- The Waiting in Advent
Why Do We Try to Know It All?
St. Cyril of Jerusalem, who died in 386, explained this teaching in his Catechetical Lectures: "Is it really true that because I cannot drink the whole river I will not take water from it in moderation for my benefit? If, when going into some great garden, I cannot eat all the fruits, would you wish that I go away from it completely hungry?" St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, who died in 430, was contemplating this same topic while walking along the seashore. He saw a small boy scooping water from the sea with a seashell and pouring it into a pit in the sand. He noticed that it is impossible for the boy to scoop up all the sea, but it is possible for him to know the sea by scooping it.
Why do we ignore the plain teachings of scripture and attempt to know all things? Scripture plainly teaches that our knowledge is not complete, and if our knowledge is not complete, it means we will always have puzzles.
Kenneth W. Collins, How Old Is the Universe?
The Royal Doors Are Opening!
We might do well, all of us, especially in this time of Advent, to recognize how the death of a Christian is like that. The royal doors open. The great Liturgy is about to begin.
Charles Hoffacker, God's Doorman
The President as a Mouse
In a similar way and in a more radical way the all-powerful and eternal God has chosen to plunge himself into the arena of human life as you and I live it, and take on the flesh and bones of our humanity.
Vince Gerhardy, God Has a Word for You
But, "No," is not what Mama wanted to hear. So, every vacation break for four years she would repeat her comments about his becoming a brain surgeon and keeping people from dying and making a lot of money, and always his response was the same. Finally the son had enough, and, when the same mantra began, he cut off his mother with exasperation, and with great passion he told his mother, "Mama, I don't want to keep people from dying, I want to show them how to live."
This morning's Gospel Lesson from John is a "call" story, but unlike so many call stories in scripture this one is not crisp, dramatic, or decisive. Today there is no flashing light, no booming voice, no clear instructions as to what the disciples are to do. Instead, what we hear is Jesus asking a question - a strange, penetrating question. But it is the question that forms the foundation for understanding "call" for understanding vocation. The question is: "What are you looking for?"
Susan R. Andrews, Sermons for Sundays: In Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany: The Offense Of Grace, CSS Publishing Company, Inc.
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But John presses his message of change even further, right on into the heart of every hearer. And the message is -- repent, turn around, open up, make God the center of your life instead of self, or family, or business, or profession, or sports, or success, or power, or money, or popularity, or status. Turn away from those lifeless, death-dealing idols, says John. Open up to the living God. Make a straight path to your heart for him.
Maurice A. Fetty, How to Profit from Prophets, CSS Publishing Company
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Peace, power and purpose. "The light shines in the darkness..." In these very busy days of preparation, may His peace, His power and His purpose dwell in our hearts.
Helen Keller
That will make you even richer.
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3. Fr. Jude Botelho
Our common everyday experience tells us that for everything of value there is need of preparation so that it turns out well and beneficial for us. If we are going for an interview we prepare ourselves and rehearse our responses. For exams we prepare well in advance if we want good grades. In sports there are months and months of daily training, exercises, diet and tough routines. If we are to prepare a delicious meal for special guests we don’t leave things to turn out well by chance!
| Reflection |
| Today’s readings sound the note of joy. But we could ask what is there to be happy about. After all there are so many things that it depresses us and makes us sad. Yet we are asked to rejoice, to be a Christian we have to have joy in our lives. What can be the source of our joy? Isaiah will point out that we should rejoice in the Lord! Isaiah believes he has been chosen to bring good news to the poor, to heal the broken hearted, to bring liberty to captives, freedom to those in prison, to proclaim a year of favour. This is joyful news that God will do all these things for us. He is coming He will not delay, He is faithful to his promises. He will come! Whatever your situation, He will come! Rejoice, the Spirit can and does change us! A couple enjoyed a happy married life for a year and a half and as usual began to go through hard times. Their family deserted them as theirs was a love marriage. The first child died after three months, and the man’s job was at stake. However, the news of the second child delighted them for some time and they could bear all hardships. Soon, at the time of delivery the doctor declared that the baby was dead in the womb of the mother and that the mother could not conceive any longer. This was a big jolt to the man who was on the periphery of his spiritual life unlike his wife who was firmly rooted and grounded in her commitment to the Lord and the Church. The man went into drinking. His company sent him abroad so that he might improve his behavior but all in vain. He came back home in a worse condition. However, his wife’s prayer-life moved him and he agreed to go for a retreat where he experienced the power of the Holy Spirit in such a might way that he decided to give his life totally to the Lord. Today he is a known retreat preacher along with his wife. Robert D’Souza in ‘Liturgy and Life’ In the Gospel we have John pointing out to the people that he is not the messiah, he is not the prophet, he is not Elijah but the voice of one crying out in the wilderness. He reminds them that there is one person in their midst who is greater than he is, but they do not recognise Him. John is merely a witness, pointing out to the one who is coming so that they might not miss him. He is the light, He is their hope, He is the promised one! If we do not see him, accept him, believe in Him, then the source of our joy is lost. We have missed the one who can bring meaning into our lives! Our sin is the sin of ignorance! We did not know He was in our midst. He came unto his own and his own did not recognise Him. God comes in strange ways! You do not recognize him ‘Valesa – a Nightmare’ is a docu-drama which was written in Poland under a pseudonym and then smuggled out of the country. It tells the story of political prisoners like Lech Walesa. Near the end of the play a prisoner priest, who usually offers a solitary Mass, is joined by the rest of the prisoners at considerable risk to celebrate the Eucharist. At this moment, the play reaches a climax with the deafening scream of crows - a Polish symbol for the Communist military regime under General Jaruzelski. The cawing of the crows suddenly gives way to the soft chirping of spring birds and the comforting notes of a piano concerto - a symbol of the optimism of the Polish people that one day their quest for religious and political freedom will be realized. ‘Valesa – a Nightmare’ shows how Christ can come into our lives even in the worst of circumstances. The Lord came to Lech Walesa in a Communist prison through Walesa’s faith and prayers, through his Polish culture and pride, through his fellow political prisoners and through the sacrament of the Eucharist. Albert Cylwicki in ‘His Word Resounds’ Something More A vivid illustration of what John was challenging people to do is found in Catherine Marshall’s book Something More. One day her daughter Linda was about to take a shower. Linda had one foot in the shower stall and the other foot on the bathroom rug. As she stood there in this awkward position, it suddenly occurred to her that this was a good picture of her life. Linda had always wanted to commit her life to God, but she could never quite do it. She always kept one foot in and one foot out. Now, it seemed the moment had finally come when she must decide for God or against him. Standing there, Linda thought about what choosing the Lord would cost her. The price would be high. But she was tired of living in two worlds and enjoying neither. Linda paused for a long time, took a deep breath, and said aloud, “Lord, I choose you!” With that, she stepped into the shower. It was for her a true baptism. It’s this kind of a change of heart that John was calling upon people to make. Mark Link in ‘Sunday Homilies’ Witnessing to the Light A king came along whose wife gave birth to twins, both boys. They were christened Peter and Paul. The father loved both of them equally. But to whom should he leave the ring? He fell very ill, and thinking that he was about to die, he hit on the following plan. He got another ring made exactly like the first. It was so good that even he was unable to tell them apart. Then he called in his two sons separately and gave each of them a ring. But when Peter found out that his brother had also got a ring he made a terrible scene. He had to be sure that he himself had the magic ring and not the look alike. The king consulted a wise man to help him decide the issue. After examining the rings the latter declared: “I cannot tell which of you is wearing the magic ring, you yourself will be able to tell.” “How?” they asked earnestly. “It’s quite simple. Whichever of you displays the greater amount of goodness in his life will prove beyond doubt that he possesses the magic ring.” It was agreed. As it happened, the king recovered from his illness and reigned for many years more. When at least he was nearing death he called in his two sons once more. Now was the time to finally decide which of them had the magic ring. Peter was the first to come in. He began to claim adamantly that he possessed it. But then the people who knew him best were asked their opinion. His wife told how over the years he had shown her very little affection. His children said that he was never at home. His servants complained that he had been very hard on them and had paid them poor wages. His neighbours told how he was forever stirring up trouble among them. And so it went on. Paul came in. He made no claims whatsoever. But when the people who knew him best were asked what kind of man he was they were loud in their praise of him. He had proved to be a loving husband, and a kind father to his children. He had treated his servants with respect and generosity. He had been a force for peace and goodwill among his neighbours. In fact, not a single one had a bad word to say about him. Then the king spoke: “Peter you have witnessed to the presence of the ring, but only with your words. Paul on the other hand, has witnessed to it with his deeds, that is, with his life. To me it is obvious that his witness is the greater and the more convincing. Therefore, I declare that his ring is the genuine one. Now Paul I ask you to produce it. “I no longer have it”, Paul answered. “What do you mean you no longer have it?” asked the King. “One day many years ago a poor woman and her child came to my gate and I gave it to her so that she could sell it and buy food and clothes.” Far from being angry, the king was very pleased on hearing this. It merely confirmed him in his belief that the verdict he had reached was in fact the correct one. And in due course Paul ascended the throne and donned the crown. The second son in some ways reminds us of that great man John the Baptist. In today’s Gospel we are told that John was a witness to the light. “He was not the light, but only a witness for the light”. The light of course was Christ. Flor McCarthy in ‘Sunday & Holy Day Liturgies' Prepare the way for Him! A religious sociologist, Dr. Dean Hoge, has written a book entitled ‘Converts, Dropouts and Returnees’. Very briefly, he narrates his experiences with individuals, who either left the Catholic Church or had been reconverted, and what led them to take that important decision. And he found that “the happiest Catholics were the dropout Catholics” –persons who had left the Catholic Church for a time, but returned. Even more, he found that the best recruiters of dropout Catholics are the dropouts themselves. More specifically, Dr. Dean Hoge found that two-thirds of the thousands of Catholics who return to the faith each year do so because a neighbour, a friend or a relative invited them to return. This is where each and everyone of us can play a vital role in the return of many. And we could begin just by inviting them to attend a service this Christmas. We have been anointed for this very specific outreach; so let the Holy Spirit speak through you in preparing the way for the Lord. James Valladares in ‘Your words, O Lord, Are Spirit, and They are Life’ Are we ready? A guru once revealed the route by which he was led to God-realization. “First,” he said, God took me to the Land of Action and after many years to the Land of Sorrows.” He continued. “I was taken to the Land of Love where I was emptied of everything; next God took me to the Land of Silence, where I pondered the mysteries of life.” The impatient disciple asked, “What was the final stage?” The guru replied, God finally said that I’d see God’s innermost Self, and God led me to the Land of Joy.” Jesus brings joy because he binds the broken hearts and breaks captives’ chains. His joy will be ours if we too, in the power of the Spirit, help him free the brokenhearted and captives. But, this demands breaking our own chains first. Are we ready? Francis Gonsalves in ‘Sunday Seeds for Daily Deeds’ May we be joyful witnesses of God’s love in the world today! |
