Pointing To The One Who Is Mightier

The air all around us is made up of gases, most of which are odorless and colorless.

For example, this room is filled with oxygen. How do we know that? Because we are all breathing it in. Without it, we would pass out and die. We also know that the room is filled with carbon dioxide because that is the gas we exhale.  Though we cannot see it or smell it, we know it is there simply because of our ability to breath.

Another gas which may be in this room is carbon monoxide. It can be deadly when it rises to a certain level. However, we cannot know whether the level of that dangerous gas is too high unless we have a carbon monoxide detector to tell us. Without that instrument, we would not know whether we were being poisoned by carbon monoxide because there is no other way to detect it.

There is also radiation in this room. Like many gases, we cannot see or smell radiation. However, if we are overexposed to its rays, it can be harmful to our health. To detect it, we need an instrument called a Geiger counter to assure us that we are not being exposed to dangerous levels of radiation.

What is true of gases and radiation is often true of spiritual realities as well. For instance, we know that Jesus is present among us. We cannot see Him, but we know He is here because of His  promise that where two or three are gathered in His name He would be present among them (Matt 18:20). We also know that God loves us. Although we cannot feel His love, we know it is real because of Jesus’ promise that “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Just as we need detectors to warn us when carbon dioxide levels have risen to dangerous levels and just as we need Geiger counters to alert us to harmful radiation, so we need an instrument to point out the unseen presence of God in our midst. That instrument is the Church.

It is through the Church that we learn that the Risen Jesus is present among us and that He loves us.

How does the Church accomplish that mission?

First of all, the Church acts as an instrument of the presence and love of God by preaching the Scriptures. God used the Church both to write the Bible and to preserve it down through the centuries so that it could be available to us. All the promises of God are contained therein. It teaches us how our Heavenly Father has acted throughout history to realize His plan of salvation for the world. It also instructs us how we are to live in this world with our hearts set on the world to come, as Saint Peter encourages us to do in today’s second reading, “[conduct] yourselves in holiness and devotion, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God..” (2 Pt 3:11-12).  At every Mass, the Church offers us a healthy serving of readings from the Bible so that we can become aware of God’s presence and love even though we cannot see it.

The second way that the Church serves as an instrument to help us detect the presence and love of God is through the sacraments. For example, in Baptism through the pouring of water, the invocation of Trinity and faith, we truly become sons and daughters of God. There is a real change in us that we cannot otherwise see or detect. There is no DNA test and no bloodwork to confirm that we have become daughters and sons of God. Rather, we know it in faith because of God’s promise.

The same is true of the Eucharist. We are assured of Jesus’ presence in Holy Communion because of His promise. If we were to put the Eucharist under a microscope it would look like ordinary bread. However, we can be sure we are receiving Christ’s very Body and Blood because the Church makes us aware of His presence just as a Geiger counter makes us aware of the presence of radiation.

The third way that the Church makes the world aware of the love of God is through us, the People of God.

When we hear the word “Church”, we often think about priests and bishops, religious women, or the Vatican. However, the Church is much broader and wider than that. Each one of us who has been baptized is the Church.  We are an integral part of that mission to proclaim the presence and love of God in our world. We do it in our homes by loving one another. We do it in our places of work and schools by witnessing with our words and deeds to the transformative power of faith. We do it in our community by feeding the poor, instructing the ignorant, visiting the sick and advocating for those whose rights are being trampled. Each one of us is an instrument God wants to use to alert the world to His presence and love.

In today’s gospel, it is Saint John the Baptist who is sent by God to alert Israel to the “One who is mightier” and who “will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” As of that time, Jesus had not yet begun His ministry. Though He was living among them, God used John the Baptist as the instrument to prepare the people for His appearance. In the same way, the Risen Jesus is present and active in our world but many people do not know Him. It is our mission, therefore, to make Him known. Instructed by God’s word and fed by Holy Communion, then, let us go forth from this place to alert the world to a reality they would otherwise not be able to see - the love of God who desires that all be saved.