A Voice In The Wilderness

 Over the past month, we have heard quite a bit from John the Baptist.

During the four weeks of Advent leading up to our celebration of Jesus’ birth, we heard his proclamation to us that we prepare the way for the Lord through penance and good works.

Last week, as we celebrated the baptism of the Lord, he witnessed the Spirit come down upon the waters in the form of a dove, the heavens open up and the voice of God proclaim that Jesus is the Beloved Son.

And, as we begin a new year, we hear from him once again. This time he is pointing Jesus out as the Lamb of God who will take away the sins of the world.

John the Baptist is an important figure in the gospels because he announces the coming of the Messiah. Many of Jesus’ earliest followers were disciples of John. The Church puts the message and example of John before us each year because he still has much to teach us, especially as we begin a new year. In particular, there are three points that we should take away from the gospel proclamation about John the Baptist - that we need to repent of our sins, that we must witness to the truth, and that we must put Jesus at the center of everything we do.

First of all, we need to give up our sinful ways. When John appeared along the banks of the Jordan River, he preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. He made it clear to all who approached him that, once baptized, they could not return to their former way of life. They needed to make a real and lasting change.

The message is the same for us two thousand years later. All of us have areas of our lives that do not reflect the love of Christ. Whether it be in our families, our schools or workplace, we fail to respect others, to show concern for those in need or to put the interests of others before our own. We all need to examine our consciences daily, to review our actions and to commit ourselves to doing better with the grace of God. Our faith is only real if it is making a difference in the way we speak and live. John the Baptist teaches us that we must make a real effort everyday to change our sinful behavior so that our lives can reflect the love of our Savior who came to die for us.

Secondly, John the Baptist teaches us that we must always speak the truth. Just as we struggle to avoid sin in our own lives, we must point out the ways in which our society fails to uphold the dignity of the person. Every day in our world, the rights of the poor are being trampled on, innocent people are killed and the powerful take advantage of the weak. As people of faith, we cannot stand idly by or keep silent. Otherwise, we will be condoning injustice. We must speak up to defend the innocent and the downtrodden because they are our sisters and brothers.

John the Baptist did this unceasingly during his life. He died because he dared to criticize King Herod for living with his brother’s wife. He spoke up because he recognized the importance of marriage and family life. Like John, we must never fail to defend the sanctity of marriage both by living good and holy family lives ourselves and by speaking out against the threats our society poses to marriage such as divorce and pornography. Our society needs people of faith with the courage to speak the truth or else more innocent lives will be lost and more damage will be done to the poor and needy.

Thirdly, Jesus must be at the center of all we do. John the Baptist understood that the reason he was sent was to give witness to the Messiah. His mission was not to gather disciples for himself but to lead others to Jesus. So, when Jesus did finally appear, he never failed to point him out to people and encourage them to follow him. When he was asked whether it distressed him that his disciples were leaving him to listen to Jesus, he replied “He must increase, and I must decrease.” John’s whole life was centered around preparing the way for Jesus so that, when he finally did appear, he was happy to fade into the background.

As individuals and as a parish community, we must ask ourselves daily the question: Is everything we are doing centered on Jesus or on ourselves? Are we more concerned about what people think of us or what Jesus would think of us? Are we more concerned about pleasing others or pleasing Jesus? It is very easy in the midst of all life’s little details to forget why we exist. It is easy to lose focus when our days are filled with so many activities. We must take time everyday to remind ourselves of what is most important - that we know, love and serve our Savior, Jesus. When we put Jesus at the center of our lives, everything else falls into place.

It is for good reason that John the Baptist is such a prominent figure in all the gospels and that the Church places his message before us so often during the year. At the beginning of a new year it is especially important to reflect on these three key elements of his message - that we repent of our sins, that we speak the truth with love and that we keep Jesus at the center of all we do. It is an unfailing formula for growing in holiness as individuals and for drawing others to Christ as a parish community.

So that we can have strength to live up to this challenge, we turn to the Lamb of God. He will come to us in the form of bread and wine at this table to nourish our souls. He is with us as we struggle to root out sin in our lives, speak the truth and keep our lives centered on him. We can trust that he will give us the grace and courage necessary to live up to our calling as his followers.

The Call To Change

A young man’s marriage was headed for divorce, so he turned to his pastor for some counseling and advice.

The first time they met, all the young man could do was complain about his wife. She was never home. When she was home, all she did was talk on the phone. Because of her commute, she had to leave early in the morning so he was left packing the children’s lunches and bringing them to school. None of his needs were being met.

The pastor listened patiently to the young man’s laundry list of grievances. When he was finished, the pastor opened his desk drawer and took out an index card. Handing it to the young man, he said, “The next time we meet, I want you to write ten good qualities your wife has on this index card and read them to me.”

The young man joked that it would not be easy, but he agreed to do it.

All that week, the young man made the effort to find something good about his wife to write on the card. He began to notice the care she took in cleaning the house. When something was broken, she always took the initiative in fixing it without asking his help. Despite the issues they were dealing with as a couple, she was genuinely happy to see him when she  got home. Because he was so focused on the negative, he had been oblivious to all that was good in his marriage.

The young man learned something else through the exercise. He learned how selfish he was. He was so focused on himself and his needs that he did not notice how hard his wife was working to keep their marriage together. He was so wrapped up in himself that he never noticed how his wife would try to talk to him but he ignored her so that he could watch TV.

It became very clear to him that the problem with their marriage was not her but him. If his marriage was going to survive, he was the one who would have to change.

We can probably all relate to the young man in the story. There have been times in our lives when we blamed everyone else for our difficulties and struggles. We were so focused on our own needs that we ignored the love and concern of those around us. In the end we learned that they were not the problem, we were. We discovered that the only way the negative circumstances in our lives would change would be if we changed.

Today’s gospel reading introduces one of the major figures of the Advent season, John the Baptist. As Saint Luke tells us, John is sent by God to prepare the way for Jesus. Why does God need someone to prepare the way for Jesus? Why couldn’t God just sent His Son without preparing the people first? Because He was about to do something radically new. It would be an act of salvation which Israel and the world had never seen before. To be aware of this gift and be able to accept it, the people would have to change their attitudes and behaviour. Like the young man whose marriage was close to breaking up, they would have to take their focus off themselves and turn it toward God. They would need to experience repentance. They would need to change.

As we read the Bible, we can sometimes wonder how so many people rejected Jesus despite the beauty of His teaching and all the miracles He performed. For many people, however, Jesus did not fit the description of what a Messiah or holy man should be. For example, the Pharisees did not believe He could be a prophet because He ate and drank with public sinners. The Zealots, like Judas Iscariot, did not believe He could be the Messiah because He did not work to overthrow the Roman occupation. Many others could not embrace His teachings on forgiveness and compassion for the poor. However, the problem was not with Jesus. The problem was with so many people who refused to change and so could not embrace the gift of salvation being offered them.

If we are going to experience all the blessings of this Advent Season - indeed, all the blessings of this life - we will need to change. We will need to change our outlook, our attitudes and our behaviour. There is much that is good all around us that we are oblivious to because of our selfishness. God is calling us to heed the words of John the Baptist to change our lives so that we can prepare a way for His Son.

A good place to start is every evening making a good examination of conscience. To make sure that our reflection is fruitful, we should try to look for one either online at a Catholic website or in a book. That will challenge us to see where in our hearts and minds the compassion of Christ is lacking. It will help us to understand exactly what inclinations and actions we will need to correct so that we can reflect the love of Jesus. Then going to confession to unburden our conscience and experience the healing power of this beautiful sacrament will give us even more strength and insight.

As Saint Paul tells us in the second reading, God has begun a good work in us and by His grace He will see it through. He wants us to take off our robes of mourning and misery to don the cloak of glory and joy from the Lord. It is all there for us if we will only heed John the Baptist’s call to repentance and conversion. It is within our grasp if we only have the courage to take a good hard look at ourselves and change.

Catchy

 Every successful company has a catchy slogan that helps us to identify their products and services. For example, if I were to say, "Just do it", you would immediately think of the sports apparel company, Nike. If I were to say, "I'm loving it", you would think of McDonald's. These taglines are clever marketing tools designed to make us remember the company and its brand and to make them stand out against their competition.

However, it is not just modern corporations like Nike and McDonald's that use slogans and taglines. Prophets do as well. When we say, "Prepare the way of the Lord," there is no doubt that we are talking about John the Baptist. That phrase sums up his whole life and ministry. He was a prophet sent by God to help the people prepare for the coming of Jesus, the Messiah, by turning away from their sin. His central message was that God was about to visit his people in a new and powerful way and that they had to prepare themselves to welcome him.

  

The phrase, "Prepare the way of the Lord," not only sums up the message of John the Baptist, it also describes what these four weeks of Advent are about. We are preparing ourselves for the coming celebration of Jesus' birth. Through prayer and penance, we are giving thanks that he has come among us as a man, we are looking forward to his future coming in glory, and we are attentive to the ways in which he visits us here and now with his grace. And so when we hear the words, "Prepare the way of the Lord," we are not only reminded about John the Baptist preaching on the banks of the Jordan River two thousand years ago, but we are also reminded that we are called upon today to get ready for the God who is coming to visit us.

Even though we associate this phrase with John the Baptist, it did not originate with him. It was first used by the prophet Isaiah and then echoed in the book of the prophet Baruch from which our first reading is taken today. Baruch, however, uses the idea very differently from the way Isaiah and John the Baptist did. Whereas they were encouraging us to prepare the way for God, Baruch was consoling his people by telling them that God was preparing a way home for them.

The prophet Baruch ministered at a time when many of God's people were living outside of the Holy Land. The Babylonians had conquered Jerusalem and, in order to strengthen their control over the city, they marched the people out into exile. The journey into exile was long and treacherous leading through mountains, valleys and deserts. Many Israelites died along the way. The Babylonians took them along the most dangerous routes so that the Israelites would lose all hope of ever returning to their homeland again. It would be too perilous a journey to ever undertake even if they were to regain their freedom. Through the prophet Baruch, God wanted to console his people - both those who remained in Jerusalem and those who were forced into exile - to let them know that he would prepare a way home for them again. It would not be a dangerous and treacherous path like the one which led them out to exile, but a smooth and easy way back to their home in Jerusalem. If they would prepare a place for God in their hearts, God promised to prepare a way home for them.

These weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas are a time for homecoming. Our family members who live far away will often make the trip home to spend the holidays with their loved ones. It is a joyous sight to see our parish filled to capacity with students who are home from college for winter break and parishioners who make a special effort to attend Mass for Christmas even if they do not happen to come every Sunday. Hopefully, many of our local men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan will be able to make it home for the holidays as well. We are preparing to welcome them with great joy.

However, we need to remember those for whom the way home is a hard road. So many people are separated from their loved ones during the holidays because of resentments and unsettled quarrels. Just as sadly, many people are separated from the Church because they feel that their sinfulness puts them beyond the hope of ever reconciling with God or because something unkind was said to them by a priest and they have never gotten over the hurt. That bitterness between family members, friends and between the Church and her children can make these days especially difficult and painful. Could it be that this year God wants to prepare a way home for someone we love with whom we have lost touch? Could it be that God wants us to prepare a way for him by reaching out to someone who has hurt us? Could it be that this year God wants to smooth out our rocky past and clear out a straight pathway home for us - both to our family home and to our spiritual home? Is there someone in our lives who is waiting for us to invite them home again?

During this Advent season we pick up the cry of John the Baptist, "Prepare the way of the Lord!" But we also remember that God is preparing a way for us, a way which leads directly to him. The way he has prepared for us can seem like a difficult one full of sacrifice and difficulties. But it is a much smoother pathway than the bumpy road of selfishness, pride and greed that we have so often found ourselves on and which has lead us away from our loved ones and our God. Can the cry of John the Baptist be more than just a slogan for us? Can it be a way that we choose to live, always preparing ourselves to meet the God who calls us home and ever ready to set our foot on the pathway which leads to peace?

A Voice Is Born

Consider all the great women and men of our time. Think of the presidents, queens, members of Parliament, senators and heads of transnational companies. In our day they control vast amounts of wealth and pull the levers of power. However, like the rest of us, they will one day die and, soon after, they will be forgotten. Of all the influential people of our day, how many will be remembered even one hundred years from now? How many do you suppose will have their birthdays celebrated five hundred or one thousand years from now? I think it would be safe to say that it will be very few if any.

However, today Christians from around the world gather to celebrate the birth of a simple man. He did not control vast amounts of wealth. In fact, he dressed in camel skins and ate only locusts and wild honey.  He did not have a place at the table with the powerful. He left behind no great literary works and founded no institutions. Rather he gave his life to God and followed His call to preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins, to baptize and to herald the coming of the Messiah.

John the Baptist was a towering figure in early Christianity. Every gospel begins with some mention of his preaching along the banks of the Jordan River. Most of Jesus’ first disciples had been followers of John the Baptist. Jesus Himself was a great admirer of his, even choosing to begin His ministry by being baptized by him in the Jordan River. Our Lord would also say of him that no man born of woman was ever greater than John the Baptist. By preparing the way for the Messiah, he serves as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments.

We remember him today not only because of his foundational and pivotal role in the development of our faith. We also remember him because he has must to teach us about what it means to serve God and work for His Kingdom.

First of all, John the Baptist teaches us that each of us is called by God for some special task. Even before he was born, our Heavenly Father had chosen his parents, a very old couple, to make it clear that his birth was a work of God. Already in his mother’s womb, God was preparing him for the role he would fulfill so that when Mary came to visit Elizabeth he could already recognize the one who would give birth to the Messiah. Though he did not understand all the details of God’s plan, he said “yes” to him even to the point of giving his life.

Each of us was known by God before we were conceived. We were already in the mind of God before the world was created. He has always loved us and called us to love Him in return. As our lives develop, He has stood by our side offering us the grace to do His will. When we have rejected Him, he has offered us forgiveness. Like John the Baptist, we do not know or understand what it is he has planned for us. Nonetheless, every day we live with the confidence that He will give us what we need to do His will. John the Baptist teaches us to entrust ourselves to God and to do whatever it takes to follow Christ faithfully.

Secondly, John the Baptist always pointed toward Jesus. Though vast crowds would come out to hear him speak, he knew that he was only the herald of someone greater who would come after him. He was preparing the way for the Messiah. So when Jesus finally did come on the scene, he allowed those who had been his disciples to leave him and follow our Lord. He did not protest, he did not try to hold on to the influence and power he previously had. As he would say in the gospel of John, “[Jesus] must increase, and I must decrease.”

The example of John the Baptist continues to be important especially in our day. So many of us ask, “What’s in it for me?” We are often so busy holding on to what we have that we miss the opportunity to gain something greater. However, like John the Baptist, we exist to point to Jesus. As individuals and as a Church, we must never forget that everything we say and do must be in the service of our Lord. Buildings will crumble, organizations will dissolve and people will be forgotten. Our work will only survive if it is centered in Jesus. And so we are called by the grace of God to put aside our own interests, our own vision of how things should be and our egos to serve the Kingdom of God.

Finally, John the Baptist was never afraid to speak the truth. Whether it was a peasant, a religious leader, a soldier or a King, he called all to repent of their sins and prepare themselves for the Messiah. In the end, he was imprisoned and beheaded for daring to criticize King Herod for abandoning his own wife to live with his brother’s wife. Speaking out and defending the sanctity of marriage cost him his life.

If we are to be faithful followers of Jesus, we must also never be afraid to speak the truth in love. As our culture drifts further and further away from valuing the sanctity of human life and the role that traditional marriage plays in building up society, it will be increasingly difficult to live our faith. It is not inconceivable even in countries that claim to defend religious liberty that churches will be vandalized and individuals attacked for promoting God’s vision for family life. Like John the Baptist we need not worry or panic. God will provide for our needs. Yet we must pray for the courage to stay faithful in our witness to Jesus no matter what the cost.

On this day, we celebrate the birth of a great man. Called by God from the womb, he pointed to Jesus and remained faithful to Him to the point of death. We pray that we can learn from and follow his example and so bring the world what it so desperately needs - the hope of a Saviour.

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. 

Good News!

When was the last time you heard really good news, the kind of good news that changed your life?

It could have been when you found out you or a loved one was going to have a baby. It could have
been that you were accepted into the school you had always dreamed of attending. It could have
been that you got the job you interviewed for. Or it could be that you learned that someone you love
loved you back.

This type of good news brings something new and exciting into our lives. It reminds us that life is
good and gives us hope for the future. It lifts our spirits and gives new purpose to our days. We all
need good news like that from time to time and welcome it whenever it comes. Today’s readings are
all about good news, the kind of good news that can change our lives. The prophet Isaiah, whom we
will hear throughout this Advent season, spoke God’s word during a very difficult period in the history
of God’s people. Israel had been invaded, Jerusalem had been destroyed and most of the people
were carted off into exile. Far from home and feeling abandoned by their God, they began to despair.
But God sent prophets to the people to remind them that He was still in their midst and to urge them
to be faithful to the covenant promises they had made to Him.

At their lowest point, Isaiah appears among them bringing good news. He comforts them with the word
of God letting them know that their exile is coming to an end. They had endured a time of testing and
punishment but now a time of blessing was coming. He reminds them that God is their Shepherd and
that He has been leading them not only through the good times but also through the bad times.
Though they feel abandoned by God, He had never left them and, in fact, was carrying them through
the time of trial as a shepherd picks up and carries a wounded lamb. They could be assured that no
matter how rocky the road, God was leading them to a place of rest and peace. Like a Good Shepherd,
He would gather all of them and lead them home.

Many of us are here today waiting and praying for good news. Life can be very difficult. We can feel
lost and alone. We can even feel as though God has abandoned us or let us down. Maybe things have
gotten so bad for us that we have nowhere else to turn than to our Heavenly Father. There is good
news for us even in the midst of our trials and tribulations. No matter what we may be experiencing,
God is with us. There is nothing that can drive God away from us or cause Him to abandon us. Even
when we are suffering because of our bad choices, He never abandons us. Most likely, when God feels
distant, we cannot see Him because He has hoisted us up on His shoulders to carry us through the
rough patch of road. The good news is that God is always by our side.

The good news is also that the God who is always at our side is also ahead of us leading the way. Like
a Good Shepherd, God is leading us to green pastures where we can rest and be fed to our heart’s
content. He goes ahead of us clearing away all the obstacles and chasing away all the wolves who
threaten to harm us. And if we should get distracted and jump off the road, God will go into the thickets
to find us and bring us back. God has a plan for our lives. There is a purpose for every path He leads
us through. He can make good come out of whatever may happen to us along the way. Many times,
we cannot see it until we have gone through it. But in faith we can walk forward with courage and
confidence knowing that he cannot steer us wrong.

For our part, we need to trust God. Every morning, we need to entrust our lives into His loving hands
and say, “Thy will be done.” Whatever problem we are faced with, we need to say with confidence,
“Lord, I trust in you.” It means taking one day at a time, dealing with what is directly in front of us and
letting God take care of tomorrow. As Saint Peter tells us in the second reading, “in the Lord’s eyes,
one day is as a thousand years.” Today is the day of decision, the day that God has prepared for us.
Living this day well will make tomorrow that much better.

We heard proclaimed today the beginning of the Gospel according to Mark. He tells us that it is the
good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The good news, the news that has changed the lives of
untold people throughout the centuries, is that God sent His only Son to die for our sins. He rose from
the dead and is still among us. Our Heavenly Father has created each of us for a special purpose and
He will lead us to fulfill that purpose if we can leave sin behind and entrust ourselves to Him with
childlike confidence.

That is what we are called to do in these weeks leading up to the celebration of our Savior’s birth.
We remember that He was born of the Virgin Mary. We proclaim that He will come again to create
a new heavens and a new earth where God’s justice will prevail. And we celebrate His presence
among us now in the people He has gathered, in the word that is proclaimed and in the bread and
wine that will become His Body and Blood. It is the good news that changes our lives forever, the
good news our hearts are longing to hear. Our God is with us forever.

The Baptist's Cry

John the Baptist is one of the key figures in the drama of Advent unfolding in these weeks leading up to Christmas.

The New Testament tells us that he was born around the same time as Jesus. His parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth, were very old and had never had children. One day, while Zechariah was ministering in the temple, the angel Gabriel appeared to him to announce that he would have a son whom he was to name John. As we can imagine, Zechariah found it hard to believe that he and his wife could have a child at such an advanced age. Because of his lack of belief, Gabriel told him that he would be unable to speak until the birth of the child. And so it was. Zechariah's inability to speak when he left the sanctuary made it evident to the people that he had seen a vision. And Elizabeth's pregnancy at such an old age made it clear that the child was to be great, that God's mighty hand would be upon him.

Many centuries earlier, the prophet Isaiah spoke about John the Baptist. We hear it in today's first reading. He would be a voice crying out in the desert to make straight a way for the Lord. He would call the people to clear out of their lives all the obstacles that kept God from being able to reach them. John preached a baptism of repentance, and the people flocked to receive it. They sensed that, in John, God was doing a mighty work. They didn't know all the details, but they did know that if they failed to listen, they would be missing out on God's offer of salvation.

Two-thousand years later, we still find the Baptist's call to repentance gripping and compelling. We have a sense that God has worked in our lives and called us to this place. We enjoy a lively sense of his presence and love around us. Yet, we must acknowledge that we so seldom live up to the great call he has given us to be light for the world and salt for the earth. The concerns of daily life crowd out the voice of God. The striving to earn more and to have more keeps our hearts from attuning themselves to their one great desire - to be united in intimacy with God.

Saint Peter warns us of this in the second reading. The earth will pass away. Nothing we have accumulated will have lasting value. Our true treasure is our soul and its relationship with God. Only that will survive our personal death and the end of the world. Knowing this, we must then strive to live "...in holiness and devotion, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of the Lord."

And so, we come here today, not unlike the throngs that lined the banks of the Jordan River, heeding the cry of the Baptist to make our crooked ways straight. We want to change. We want God to have more access to our hearts and to our minds. We want to put him at the center of our lives so that we can receive the mighty works he wants to accomplish in them.

We know how weak our resolve can be. We know how willing we can be on Sunday, but how distracted we can get on Monday. The source of our hope, then, is not our own willpower and self-discipline. Rather, the source of our hope is the desire of God to have an intimate friendship with us. God's desire for us is so much deeper than our desire for him. And so he doesn't rest until he has straightened out our crooked ways. He labors to penetrate the defenses we have built around our hearts and the darkness that veils our minds.

John the Baptist made his appearance in Galilee to announce the arrival of someone greater than he, someone whose sandals he was not worthy to loosen. John came to baptize with water which can only give a superficial cleansing leaving us capable of getting dirty again. The one who was to come - Jesus - would baptize with the Holy Spirit. Matthew, in his gospel, tells us that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Unlike water, fire changes what it touches. After something has been burned, it can never go back to what it was before. It is marked forever by the flames.

And so, we who have been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit and have been lit with the fire of the Holy Spirit through the anointing of our Confirmation, have been changed forever. There is no going back. We can't be unbaptized or unconfirmed. The gift we received through those sacraments can be tarnished and disfigured by sin and neglect, but they can never be lost. Our souls are permanently marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit giving us the foretaste and the promise of everlasting life. We belong to God, and he will never forget or abandon us.

The God who created us is coming to visit. He desires to sit down at a meal with us. Are we prepared? Have we confessed our sins sincerely and thoroughly? Are we determined with God's help to change the way we live, the way we treat others and the way we spend our time? God wants to do something great in our lives. If we can set our sin aside, we will witness it, and it will leave us speechless.

Proof

Today’s gospel opens with a very dramatic scene. John the Baptist finds himself in prison after criticizing Herod for living with his brother’s wife. Stuck in a prison cell, John has time to reflect on his life and the mission God had given him to prepare the way for the Messiah. In particular, he begins to wonder about Jesus of Nazareth who has just began preaching throughout Galilee. If this Jesus is the Messiah, then John’s work is done and he will likely die in prison. If Jesus is not the Messiah, however, it is likely that God will find a way to bring John out of prison so that he can continue his mission until the real Messiah appears.

And so, John sends his disciples to Jesus with a very clear question. “Are you the one who is to come or should we look for another?”

As is often the case, Jesus answers a simple question with a deep and probing answer. He challenges John’s disciples to tell him what they themselves see. And what they see is that the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled in Jesus. “The blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news preached to them.” 

What is Jesus doing here? He is offering evidence to John and to his disciples that He is indeed the Messiah.

This is something that Jesus did throughout the three years He spent preaching the good news. Certainly, many came to believe in Him because of the words He spoke. But even more compelling to them were the mighty works He performed. He drew great crowds not only because He spoke with authority but because He healed the sick, raised the dead and cast out demons. Jesus performed these deeds as evidence that He truly was who He said He was - the Messiah, the Son of God. Jesus did not require those who followed Him to have blind faith, to just believe in Him because He said so. Rather, He gave them reasons to believe.

The same is true for us today. God does not require us to have blind faith. He does not simply want us to believe because the Bible or the Church say so. Rather, He wants to give us reasons to believe.

Now, there are many reasons to believe in the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. It would take more than one homily to go over them all. However, since Jesus offered miracles as evidence that He is the Messiah, let us also look at some miracles which have happened in our own day which point to the truth of the gospel and the power of prayer.

For holy women or men to be recognized officially as saints by the Church, it must be shown that miracles were accomplished through their intercession. Once someone makes a claim that a miracle has taken place, the Church convenes a panel of scientists to review the circumstances. If they conclude that there is no natural explanation for phenomena, then the Church recognizes it as a miracle.

Such is the case with Saint John Paul II.

Sister Marie Simon Pierre, a nun in France, began experiencing symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, an affliction of the nervous system, at the age of 47. Her disease had advanced to the point that she could not even move her legs. However, after asking the holy pope’s intercession, she woke up one morning able to walk. All traces of Parkinson’s disease had disappeared. After a panel of doctors reviewed her case, the Vatican was able to confirm that, indeed, a miracle had taken place.

Another incredible story comes from the United States. A young couple, the Engstroms, were devastated to learn that their baby was stillborn. In her distress, the mother, Bonnie Engstrom, began praying to Archbishop Fulton Sheen, a popular speaker whose television show was one of the highest rated programs of the 1950’s. Even though their child had been dead for over an hour, suddenly his heart began to beat. A panel of doctors reviewed the case and declared that there was no medical explanation.

Miracles are not a thing of the past. God continues to work in mysterious ways  to help us to believe and to strengthen or faith. While we should be careful not to be obsessed with looking for miracles, they can help us when we begin to have doubts or when the cares of life start to weigh us down. Often, seeing so much evil and darkness in the world today, we can feel disappointed and drained. Taking some time to read about all the miracles that still take place today can remind us that God is in charge and that He will make all things work out for our good. He has a plan and no powers of this world can keep Him from bringing them to fulfillment.

Of course, the greatest miracle of all is that simple bread and wine will be transformed into the Body and Blood of Jesus on this altar. The One who made the blind see and the deaf hear will enter into us to bring us His healing gifts. For those who receive with faith, no other evidence is really necessary. 

Still The One

Today’s gospel poses a problem for us that is not easy to resolve.

How is it that Saint John the Baptist can be unsure whether Jesus is the Messiah, the “One Who is to Come”? Was it not John the Baptist who saw the heavens parted and the Spirit of God come down upon Jesus at His baptism in the Jordan River? Was it not John the Baptist who pointed Jesus out as the “Lamb of God who comes to take away the sins of the world”? Did not John the Baptist say when his disciples were leaving him to join Jesus, “I must decrease and He must increase”?

At one point, it seemed clear to John that Jesus was the one whom he and all of Israel had been waiting for. Why was he so unsure all of a sudden? What has changed that he now seems to doubt who Jesus is?

While there is no way for us to know for sure, many who study the Bible speculate that John, like many religious people of his day, was expecting a different kind of Messiah than Jesus. Many were looking forward to a Messiah who would conquer all of Israel’s enemies and establish the nation as the most powerful on earth. In particular, it seems that John the Baptist was expecting that the One to come after him would exact punishment on all sinners and evil doers. As we hear in last week’s gospel, he warns the Pharisees about “the wrath to come”. He prophesies that “Every tree that is not fruitful will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

It could be that John, from his prison cell, heard that, instead of punishing sinners, Jesus was welcoming them and dining with them. It could be that instead of living a severe life of penitence in the desert as he did, John saw Jesus moving about the people, going to wedding banquets and enjoying himself. Jesus was altogether not what John was expecting and so he wondered whether he was to wait for someone else.

In His usual way, Jesus does not answer John directly. He does not give him a “yes or no” answer. Like a good teacher, Jesus is not giving John the answer but challenging him to come up with the answer himself. Therefore,  He quotes from the prophet Isaiah that the blind are regaining their sight, the deaf are hearing and the lame are walking.  In effect, He is telling John that He has come not to condemn the world but to save it. Like the rest of the people, John now has to make a decision. Can he believe in a Messiah who offers forgiveness to sinners and treats them mercifully? Or is he so attached to his ideas of what a Messiah should be that he cannot accept Jesus?

Like John the Baptist, all of us have an idea of who God is and how He should act. For many of us, God is a loving Father. To others of us He is a just judge. Many of us expect God to be merciful and act tenderly toward sinners. Others of us wonder why He does not act more quickly to punish those who disobey His law.

No matter how we may view God, the fact is that both sides are correct. God is a loving Father and He is also a just judge. God is both merciful and just. He expect us to obey Him but is gentle when we ask for forgiveness. Like John the Baptist, we all have to accept a God who is greater than we can ever imagine, a God who is not willing to fit into the tight categories we have drawn up for Him.

Therefore, if we think of God as a Loving Father, it could be that we need to pay more attention to His laws and the rules of His Church. If we think of God as a just judge, it could be that we have to open our hearts to His tender mercy and His willingness to forgive us. Either way, the fact is that God is working in our lives and in our world. If we hold on too tightly to our rigid ideas of who God is and are not willing to change, we will miss out on it.

There is another dimension to this as well that is important for us to understand. If we are to find God it is not going to be in the places where we feel most comfortable. Rather we will have to reach out to people we normally would not associate with and neighborhoods we would normally not travel to. When He walked the earth, Jesus was found among the blind, the poor, the lame and other of society’s outcasts. Today, He can be found among prisoners, drug users, illegal aliens and others who are at the bottom of the social ladder. Unless we are willing to go out of our comfort zones and to reach out to those we would otherwise ignore, we will miss out on all the graces that God is offering us.

This Advent season we celebrate a God who does not keep His distance from us, but is within us and all around us. Too often we lose sight of Him because of our rigid ideas and narrow expectations. Today we are being called to broaden our vision and raise our eyes to a God who is always greater than we can hope for or imagine. Though He is the One we have been waiting for, He has too often passed us by because we were looking the wrong way. Like John the Baptist we are being challenged to look for our Heavenly Father in the people, places and situations we would otherwise run from. If through His grace we can find the courage to do so, then His coming among us will not be a nice thought or fanciful wish but a reality in our hearts, in our homes and in our world.

The Baptism Of The Lord

Chances are that for most of us Christmas is already a distant memory. We have already taken down the lights from our windows and put away the Christmas tree and its ornaments. We have packed up the manger scene and stored it away for another year. Our children have returned to school and are already tired of playing with the toys they received. Christmas has passed, and we are dealing with the challenges and opportunities a new year brings.

As a Church, however, the birth of our Savior is still fresh on our minds. We continue to celebrate the marvel of God made man and to unpack its meaning for our lives. On the Sunday after Christmas, we celebrated the feast of the Holy Family commemorating the love with which Mary and Joseph cared for Jesus, and we committed ourselves to following their example in our own families. On New Year's Day, seven days after Christmas, we honored Mary under her title as "Mother of God", celebrating God's choice of her as the immaculate mother of our Savior and recognizing that, through faith, she is our mother as well. Last Sunday, we celebrated the Epiphany of the Lord when a star led the Magi from the east to the child Jesus. We learned that Jesus was born not only to be the King of the Jews, but that all people were to be saved through him.

Today we end our celebration of Christmas by remembering the baptism of Jesus by John in the Jordan River. It marks the end of his hidden years as a carpenter in Nazareth and the beginning of his ministry preaching the good news, healing the sick and gathering around himself disciples and apostles who would be the foundation of the Church. This feast day helps unfold for us more of the mystery of who Jesus is and what his mission was. As Luke tells us, when Jesus was baptized heaven opened up, the Holy Spirit came down upon Him and a voice booming from above declared that he is the Son of God, and that the Father is pleased with him. We can only imagine what the scene was like for those fortunate enough to have witnessed it. God was pointing out to all those who would hear that the Messiah they had been waiting for was now in their midst and that the Holy Spirit was with him to lead all those who would follow him into freedom.

Though the scene is majestic, there is another dimension to this baptism story. Anyone who would have been listening carefully to God's voice from heaven would have heard in his words an echo of the ancient prophecies of Isaiah, in particular, several oracles called the "Servant Songs." One of these prophecies serves as our first reading today. Through the prophet Isaiah God gives a description of the Messiah as one with whom he is pleased and as the one upon whom he has placed his Spirit. This matches exactly the words which are spoken from heaven at Jesus' baptism. And so, God is pointing out to the people that Jesus is the servant whom Isaiah had foretold many centuries earlier.  In another of the servant songs, however, Isaiah prophesies that it would be through his suffering that this servant would bring about the salvation promised by God. We read these prophecies every year during Holy Week. The Messiah is described as a suffering servant who takes on the sins of the people, who is rejected and persecuted. As Isaiah puts it, "By his stripes, we are healed."

Through these words, a little bit more of the mystery of Jesus is revealed. Despite the power of the Holy Spirit which rests upon him, despite the good works he performed among the people and despite the beauty of his message of forgiveness and love, this Savior was destined to be rejected and to suffer a horrible death for our sake.

But Jesus' death is not the end of the story. We gather here two thousand years later because that same Spirit which alighted on Jesus at his baptism raised him from the dead. That same Holy Spirit came upon the apostles and Mary empowering them to pick up where Jesus left off and spread the good news throughout all the nations of the earth. We ourselves are the recipients of the promise made by John the Baptist when he said One was coming who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. Each of us has received that baptism of fire through our own baptism and again in our confirmation. The same Holy Spirit who came down upon Jesus was given to us. We were granted the forgiveness of our sins and the promise that the One who raised the body of Jesus would raise us up to everlasting life. Finally, the same Spirit who ignited a fire in the apostles empowering them to spread the good news of Jesus even in the face of persecution and death has been given to us so that we can live and spread his word not with our puny efforts but with the very power of God. All this is given to us who have believed in the name of Jesus and have been baptized in his Spirit. It is a Spirit that leads us out of fear and slavery to sin into freedom.

And so today we wrap up our celebration of Jesus' birth for another year. However, we commit ourselves once again to keeping the spirit of Christmas alive all year long. We do not do that, however, by keeping our Christmas tree up or singing carols. We do that by living our baptism in the power of the Spirit we have received. We do that by calling others to recognize and accept the gift of salvation offered them in the person of Jesus. We do that by striving to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah to bring freedom to captives , sight to the blind and food to the hungry. We do that by every day giving our lives over to Jesus, our Messiah, and by asking him to work wonders in our lives and in our world.