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Homilies are posted no later than during the week
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3 Advent
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Third Sunday of Advent - B Cycle - John 1:6-8, 19-28
The magnificent portrait of John the Baptist by the
16th century Caravaggio was shown in the United States for but one
time. Were you fortunate enough to see it? I was not.
However, I did the next best thing. I read the
superb Life of Christ by the Japanese author, Shusaku Endo. He is the
Caravaggio of the East with his pen. His splendid word portrayal of
John the Baptizer has given birth to this homily.
Can you imagine a country today without
newspapers, TV, and fax machines? Such was Palestine twenty centuries
ago. Still, detailed reports about the preaching of John the Baptist
way down in southern Palestine made their way as far north to Jesus in
the hick town of Nazareth. This will give you an idea of the socko
magnetism that John out of of Elizabeth and Zachary possessed. We talk
about a superstar.
When Christ heard of the details of John's
talks via the grapevine, He sold His tools and set up a fund for His
mother.He walked south to check John out. This is the pilgrim
Jesus.
His trip was a long one. His constant
companions were
the dreadful heat by day and bone shivering cold by night.
The journey would take four days. Finally, He came on large
crowds at the Jordan River listening raptly to His cousin. Like
them, the Christ hung on every word. The Gospel shows He was
so moved by the preacher that He insisted upon being baptized
by him. Initially, John had the good sense to decline. He knew he had a
tiger by the tail. But Jesus was not the kind of Man you said no to
then or now. The apocryphal Gospel of Thomas states He said, "He who is
near me is near fire." That says it all.
It is intriguing to recall that the Teacher at
this point
was not the center of attention. He was a mere groupie lost in a large
crowd. He was a follower.
After His baptism, He camped out with John and
His company for several weeks. He kept a low profile. John's band
wanted no one to outshine their guru. Acting otherwise might be
perilous to Jesus' health.
Shortly thereafter, He began His prayer and
fasting on the Mountain of the Forty Days. There His message came
sharply into focus. It would be entirely different from that of the
Baptist. When His retreat was done, He returned to bivouac with John
and his people at the Jordan River for a time.
He had discovered what was wanting in the
teaching of His cousin. It lacked tenderness. John preached God's anger
but kept mum about God's love. The Baptist's God had no understanding
about their daily problems. He had spent too much time in the desert.
Their headaches could be a recession or a bank taking their
home or a runaway teen daughter, etc.
The Teacher rolled up His damp bedmat and quit
John's
riverside camp. They would never meet again, but they would
never forget each other. The Master would recycle material from His
cousin's sermons. And John in prison would attempt without success to
renew their acquaintance.
The Nazarene returned to His own country and
opened His
preaching ministry. His modus operandi was clear. His cousin
shouted at people till his face turned red and the veins stood out in
his neck. He admonished them in rough language, "You brood of vipers,
who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" Jesus, on the other
hand, would say softly to the walking wounded around Him, "Come unto me
all you who are weary and are burdened and I will refresh you." He
realized "a hurting person needs a helping hand, not an accusing
finger."
Whose vision of God is yours? Is it the God of
John full of anger? Or does it belong to the Teacher? His is a God
anxious to forgive our sins and faults when we get down on our knees
and ask for forgiveness in the confessional. The monk says the best
eraser in the world is confession to God.
The answer to these questions is important.
But it matters not merely to ourselves but also to those around us. We
project our vision of God on other people but especially on children.
Inflict an incorrect vision of God on them and it will stay with them
until they stop breathing.
Run your vision of God through your personal
computer. If it is that of an angry God, bury it immediately. Pick up a
gayly wrapped vision of God for yourself as a gift. This Christmas stop
giving yourself a treatment and give yourself a treat.
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http://www.st.ignatius.net/pastor.html
3 Advent
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Rejoicing in the Lord
Today’s Gospel presents John the Baptist.In this passage people
are asking John who he might be.They ask him if he is the
Christ, or Elijah, or the Prophet Who Is to Come.John responds
that he is none of these.He is the one who is preparing the way
for the Lord. The people who questioned John were priests and Levites
sent by the Hebrew authorities in Jerusalem. They were not sincerely
seeking the Messiah.
But
we are.We are looking for His presence in our lives.We
are looking for Him to come a Second Time and bring justice and peace
to the world.We are looking for his presence among us and within
us right now. We are looking for Him to heal the sick and to heal us.
At the same time, we know that His presence is real in the world and in
our lives.
Rejoice, this Sunday tells us.The Rose vestments remind us that
this is a time of great expectations. Rejoice, Christmas is almost
here.Rejoice, not so much that we have found Christ, but in that
He has found us.Rejoice, that we do not have to wonder about
Christ.We only have to question ourselves: Are we letting Him
into our lives.
Every year people of faith protest against the secularization of
Christmas.The celebration has been turned from its original
meaning, the Birth of Jesus, to an explosion of plastic gifts and
manufactured feelings.Many have spoken in the Churches about the
need we have to reclaim Christmas.Well, I don’t think we need to
reclaim anything.In the Catholic Church we have always
celebrated Christmas properly.What I do think that we need to do
is be sure that we don’t allow secular political correctness into our
vocabulary.We are Christians.Be proud and say to people,
“Merry Christmas”.Don’t say, “Season’s greetings,” or even
“Happy Holidays.”Say “Merry Christmas.” Our greetings should be
a statement of our faith. This is the celebration of the greatest birth
to ever take place, God becoming man in Jesus Christ.
Many
people are seeking and hoping for something to fill their needs this
Christmas.Children are looking for toys, adults are looking for
gifts that express love.This is all good.But what is it
that we really need?What is it that we are really
seeking?
Our
beautiful late Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, answered that question
in an address given in Rome at the Prayer Vigil during World Youth Day
2000.The address is meant for all of us.The statement is
worth quoting:
“It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness.He is
waiting for you when nothing else ever satisfies you.He is the
beauty to which you are so attracted.It is He who provokes you
with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for
compromise.It is He that urges you to shed the masks of a false
life.It is He who reads in your hearts your most genuine
choices, the choices that others try to stifle.It is Jesus who
stirs up in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the
will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be grounded
down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and
patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more
human and more fraternal.”
We
can’t be satisfied with just saying that Christmas is about
Jesus.Our lives must be about Jesus.He gives us meaning,
and purpose, and beauty.He fills our emptiness.Rejoice in
the Lord.
The
world is quite different when we let Jesus into out lives.Our
whole focus changes. We are less concerned with ourselves and more
concerned with loving as He loved, sacrificially.We are no
longer babies crying out for all our needs to be filled.No, when
we let Jesus into our lives, we become mature adults, even if we are
still only children or teens.Rejoice in the Lord.
With
Jesus in our lives, the crises we face become challenges, but not
devastating events.A loved one becomes sick, or even dies.
We become sick and receive the diagnosis that our condition is
terminal.A marriage falls apart.A job is lost.A
friend is lost.Whatever the current crises that confront us may
be, we know that the final result will be union with God.Jesus
is with us always, particularly in the worst of our times.
Rejoice in the Lord.
It
is the same for those whom we love.All of us, every single one
of us, would risk or give up our lives for our children and teens, for
our spouses, for each other, and even for those whom we do not
know.When our loved ones hurt, we would gladly take the pain on
ourselves if that could remove it from them.But, most often, we
cannot do this. Still, we are convinced, convinced in faith, that Jesus
can do what we cannot do.He can take their pain on
Himself.He did on the cross.Rejoice in the Lord.
Live
or die.We are all the Lord’s.
I
have a close friend who is a committed Christian.He will often
speak about the vast change in his life since he found Jesus. He is
correct.He has become a kind man.He has become a generous
man.But, the change in his life is not because he has found
Jesus.The change came because he stopped hiding behind the
impoverished values of the materialist world and came into the
Light.He allowed Jesus to find Him.
It
is really the same for each of us.Rejoice in the Lord!
Rejoice not so much that we have found Christ, but rejoice that He has
found us, each of us.
The
entrance antiphon for today’s Mass is, “Rejoice in the Lord. I say
it again, Rejoice” rejoice not because the secular season of giving is
about to begin.Instead, rejoice always, rejoice in the One whose
Life has recreated our lives.
Rejoice in Jesus Christ!
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http://www.geocities.com/seapadre_1999/
* available in Spanish - see
Spanish homilies
3 Advent
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Too
Serious to Take Seriously
(December 14, 2008)
Bottom line: John the Baptist tells us to take life seriously - in
light of eternity. And St. Paul says to not take seriously the
disappointments of life - instead, to "rejoice always."
Someone (perhaps G.K. Chesterton) said, "Life is too serious to take
seriously." This seems like a strange saying, but it sums up the
message of this Third Sunday of Advent, also known as Guadete - or
Rejoice - Sunday. John the Baptist tells us to take life seriously - in
light of eternity. And St. Paul says to not take seriously the
disappointments of life - instead, to "rejoice always." We Christians
can rejoice even when things go bad because we see the true point of
human existence.
This life is serious. We are here to make a choice where we are going
spend eternity. A person will either join the saints with God in heaven
- or separate himself eternally from God in what is called "hell." St.
John the Baptist confronts us with this choice. As people say today, he
gets in our face. A voice crying out in the wilderness, he says:
Prepare the way of the Lord. Repent, he tells us, make a new beginning,
turn back to God. And he speaks about a great winnowing fan that
separates the wheat from the chaff. The chaff will burn in a fire that
does not go out. This is serious stuff. You and I have to choose where
we will spend eternity.
This Sunday I am making available a booklet that will help understand
the seriousness of life. Its title is: God Reveals The Six Classes of
People and the Reality of Hell. This easy-to-read book that will catch
a young person's eye. Beginning with a story that dramatizes what Jesus
has done for us, it then speaks about the choice each one has to make -
and it gives a sobering description of the reality of hell. I recommend
it. The booklet will bring home the seriousness of life.
This life is serious because how we live it determines where we will
spend eternity - and eternity is a very long time. Let me make a
comparison. Perhaps you have attended a birthday party where the candle
contains a surprise. When the person blows on the candle, it goes out -
but then the flame suddenly pops up again. Our lives are like that.
Death appears to end one's life, but we will immediately re-appear
before God. You cannot extinguish a human soul. We are destined to live
forever. The question is: where will you and I spend eternity?
In comparison to eternity, this life is like the blink of an eye. No
matter what a person suffers in this life, it shrinks to zero when
measured against eternity. For that reason, St. Paul could say,
"Rejoice always." St. Paul suffered horrible things: hunger, disease,
poverty, sleepless nights, betrayal, shipwreck, scourging, imprisonment
- even snakebite. You name it; St. Paul suffered it. Yet he said,
"Rejoice always." He knew life is full of pain and disappointment, but
he did not take those things seriously - precisely because of the
overwhelming seriousness of life.
More and more we see our world divided into two groups: On the one
hand, those who maintain that life has no eternal meaning, that when we
die, that's all there is. These people cling to any passing pleasure -
and if life gets too painful, they want to end it. On the other hand,
are those who believe - as we do - that this life is a dress rehearsal
for the main event. Even when things seem tedious and frustrating, we
know it is worth effort. We can rejoice in spite of present hardships.
Bishop Sheen expressed this in an amusing way. He observed that some
people wake up and say, "Good morning, God!" but that others say, "Good
God! Morning!" Well, I admit I am sometimes in the second category, but
I want to be more in the first. This Sunday St. John the Baptist
invites us to take life seriously - as a preparation for eternity. And
St. Paul tells us to not take seriously the disappointments of life.
Instead, to "rejoice always." And maybe even join those happy souls who
wake up and say, "Good morning, God!" Rejoice in the Lord always. Again
I say it, rejoice!
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General Intercessions for the Third Sunday of Advent, Cycle B (from
Priests for Life)
Spanish Version
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http://www.agreeley.com/homilies.html
3 Advent
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December
14th 2008
Third Sunday in Advent
Background:
Today is called Gaudete Sunday because the word means
rejoice as in the entrance antiphon “Rejoice, again I say to you
rejoice!” The Prophet Zephanaih tells the people that the Lord with
rejoice over them in gladness, and renew them in love. Paul writes to
the Christians of Phillippi that the Lord is near and that his peace
which surpasses all understanding will guard their minds and hearts.
The Baptists harshness about fire is in marked contrast to the
preliminaries, as it is also in contrast to the gentleness of Jesus
when he begins to preach. The joy of the Church today is in the coming
of Jesus – once and every day – to bring us peace and joy and gladness
and love.
Story:
Once upon a time there was this grammar school
class,sixth grad I think because it is the kind of thing that is
mostly likely to happen in sixth grade, that was in open revolt. They
had a new teacher at the beginning of the year who was mean and nasty,
though she was very young (maybe she was scared). Well, some of the
goofy boys in class made her cry every day, not because they meant to
drive her out but because it seemed like fun. Some of the boy-crazy
girls did the same thing. So the young woman quit. The kids decided
that driving out teachers was more fun than studying. There were five
subsequent teachers, each one meaner than the previous one. As the
third or maybe the fourth teacher said to them, you are a class with a
discipline problem and I’m going to solve it by breaking you. Now even
the nice boys and the good girls were in open revolt. They talked in
class, cheated on tests, threw things at one another, ate garlic and
onions to smell up the classroom, and did a homework strike. Finally,
the pastor came to the room and asked what the problem was. All our
teachers are mean, they said, so of course we have to be mean back. Of
course said the pastor. Well, said the pastor, the next teacher is the
least mean person I know. If she can’t straighten things out, I’m
abolishing sixth grade. You wouldn’t dare! Make my day he said. WELL,
the new teacher was very nice and very funny, funnier than the worst of
the goffy boys and nicer than the nicest of the good girls. There’s
nothing to revolt against, the kids said. Well, thank goodness it’s
over. Now lets have a celebration. After school the teacher said. So
they had the celebration after school. And they all lived happily ever
after. Well, more or less.
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http://www.saintvincentarchabbey.org/homilies/index.lasso
3 Advent
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Dec,
14, 2008
John 1:6-8, 19-28
Campion P. Gavaler, O.S.B.
Third Sunday of Advent
Gospel Summary
The gospel passage tells us about a man named John who was sent by God
to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. This is
the way the testimony happened. Religious leaders from Jerusalem came
to find out who he was. John tells them that he is not the Christ, nor
Elijah, nor the Prophet. He does say: "I am the voice of one crying out
in the desert, make straight the way of the Lord . . ." Then John is
asked: "Why do you baptize . . . ?" He answers: "I baptize with water;
but there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is
coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie."
Life Implications
The life implication of this gospel passage is ultimate in its
significance: whether or not we recognize God's coming among us in
Jesus Christ. The passage is from the prologue of John's gospel
(1:1-34) in which are contained the essential doctrinal truths about
Jesus. It is better to read the entire prologue for oneself than to
read a summary here. What is essential to note is that in the prologue
we have the essential truths about Jesus. Only then does John begin his
gospel narrative. Jesus himself now appears on the scene, and
personally addresses two men who had heard about him and were following
him. Jesus asks: "What are you looking for?" They reply: "Where do you
dwell?" Jesus says to them: "Come, and you will see."
We, the readers of the gospel, already know from the prologue that
Jesus, Son of God and the Word, has dwelt with God and was God "in the
beginning." John then in the gospel narrative proceeds to tell us how
various people came to recognize the divine reality of Jesus through
the gift of faith. Tragically, however, we learn that others, with
hardened hearts, failed to recognize him, thus remaining blind in
darkness. The gospel tells us about the miracles or signs which
occasioned both the recognition and the rejection of Jesus.
At the conclusion of his gospel, John tells us that Jesus did many
other signs which he did not write about. But, he adds, these signs are
written "that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of
God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name (Jn
20:30-31).
The life implication for us is the same as it was for the people who
heard about Jesus during his historical life. How do we cross that
infinite space between blindness and sight, between hearing about Jesus
and recognizing him as the divine person who desires to dwell in us?
(Read Jn 14-17.) As in John's gospel, it is through miracles or signs
that the divine presence is revealed. For some, John's gospel can
become a sign which occasions the recognition of Jesus as living Lord.
For others, it may be reading the words of a saint, receiving an act of
kindness, seeing a person in need, experiencing an odd coincidence,
seeing the beauty of art, music, or nature. Even a tragic event in
one's life can become a miracle or sign which leads to the recognition
of the divine presence.
Advent is a special time for open-hearted prayer of hope for the gift
of recognizing God's coming among us. If today you should hear his
voice, harden not your heart. Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.
Campion P. Gavaler
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http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/lowhome.html
Meeting Christ in the Liturgy
3 Advent
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Third
Sunday
Isaiah 61, 1-2,.10-11; Luke 1:46-54;
1 Thes 5, 16-24; John 1: 6-8, 19-28
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Look to the coming of the Lord, "prepare the way of the Lord", as does
John, humbly proclaiming, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the
sin of the world!" (Jn 1:29) This phrase, in the Latin, "Ecce Agnus
Dei, ecce qui tollit peccata mundi," has been handed down in the sacred
liturgy, said by the priest while holding up the sacred Host, the Body
and Blood of Christ, for the adoration of the people. John the Baptist,
man of holy humility and bold proclamation, demands that we turn our
eyes to Christ, who "takes away the sin of the world." Wholehearted
desire for Christ begins with honest acknowledgment of our sinfulness,
"the sin of the world": both original sin, ours by "origin" from our
first parents, and personal sins. "The consequences of original sin and
of all men's personal sins put the world as a whole in the sinful
condition aptly described in St. John's expression, 'the sin of the
world.' (Jn 1:29)" (CCC 407)
"This dramatic situation of 'the whole world [which] is in the power of
the evil one' (1 Jn 5:19) makes man's life a battle: 'The whole of
man's history has been the story of dour combat with the powers of
evil, stretching, so our Lord tells us, from the very dawn of history
until the last day. Finding himself in the midst of the battlefield man
has to struggle to do what is right, and it is at great cost to
himself, and aided by God's grace, that he succeeds in achieving his
own inner integrity.' (Gaudium et spes, 37, art. 2)" (CCC 409)
Much of what ails the world today is rooted in an erroneous view of the
human person, a view which has omitted the reality of original sin. Two
effects remain in man after baptism, flowing from the sin of our first
parents: a darkened intellect and a weakened will. Unless we
acknowledge this fact, we struggle to love Christ in vain and deny he
is God. The Lord has told us, "Without me you can do nothing." If we
believe that we can accomplish anything good without Christ, we deny
him, we deny the need for salvation, we claim to save ourselves.
"The doctrine of original sin, closely connected with that of
redemption by Christ, provides lucid discernment of man's situation and
activity in the world. By our first parents' sin, the devil has
acquired a certain domination over man, even though man remains free.
Original sin entails 'captivity under the power of him who thenceforth
had the power of death, that is, the devil.' (Council of Trent (1546):
DS 1511; cf. Heb. 2:14.) Ignorance of the fact that man has a wounded
nature inclined to evil gives rise to serious errors in the areas of
education, politics, social action, and morals."
The judges, the courts, and small lobbying groups with large bank
accounts today demand, for example, that the label "marriage" be
applied to something other than a lifelong union between man and woman
alone. This has become possible because the world has become unmoored
from rootedness in God which alone can guide man and woman to an
authentic understanding of themselves, of each other, of God's will and
plan, and, in Christ, of the possibility of holiness and salvation.
Adrift without Christ, the individual is left only with the false gods
of desire and self-will. Many divorced and remarried persons, rendering
their own opinions as magisterial, re-admit themselves to Communion in
violation of the express teaching of the Church that each marriage be
submitted to the judgment of the Church and that men and women have
their marriages blessed by the Church before participating further in
the sacramental life. Many today are their own magisteriums, rendering
the truth of God mere opinion, equal to the scientific theories of the
day, or the preference of the majority. Denial of the "sin of the
world", both original and personal, is a fatal error. Life is in Christ
alone, and Christ alone can exchange sin and death for life.
Our Church is a prophet, preparing the way for Christ both at Advent
and the end of time, guiding us as we walk the paths of our vocations
through the world. The Church is Mother and Teacher, "Mater et
Magistra" as Pope John XXIII declared. The Church is such because of,
and for, the will of Christ the Lord. The Church does not offer mere
opinion when she opens and explains the Word of God, handed down to us
through Scripture and Tradition. The Church teaches with the authority
of God Himself. "I give you the gift of the Holy Spirit", "I will be
with you always", "He who hears you, hears me."
John the Baptist guides us in Advent, a people who look to Christ alone
to take away our sins and to open heaven for us when he comes again in
glory. Christ is the "Lamb of God", to whom we confidently go to
receive the fullness of God's mercy. Ecce Agnus Dei, ecce qui tollit
peccata mundi. Go humbly, and with a sense of urgency, to receive him
who unburdens us of the weight of death and shameof sin and gives us in
exchange his unending, divine life.
I look forward to meeting you here again next week as, together, we
"meet Christ in the liturgy", Father Cusick
(Publish with permission.) http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/
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http://www.ctk-thornbury.org.uk/
3 Advent
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Sermon
by Father Alex McAllister SDS Index
Third Sunday of Advent, Year B
We have in today’s Gospel an interesting interrogation. The priests and
levites came out from Jerusalem to find out who this John the Baptist
was, and whether he was the Messiah.
And it is probably a quite accurate description of the events that day,
because after all St John the Evangelist was a close disciple of John
the Baptist and was undoubtedly present. Hence all the detail about the
interrogation. A few verses further on it is mentioned that our
Evangelist was there the following day when John the Baptist pointed
out Jesus to him and his companion Andrew.
If you read the text carefully you will see that Jesus himself was
surely present on the occasion referred to in today’s Gospel. Why else
would John the Baptist say: ‘There stands among you, unknown to you,
the one who is coming after me’? Then the very next day John the
Baptist quietly points out Jesus to John and his companion Andrew and
more or less directs them to follow Jesus.
It is a small detail but quite interesting. It makes the priests and
levites out to be a bit on the slow side, them questioning John asking
him if he was the Messiah when the real Messiah was standing right next
to them. Who says there is no humour in the Gospels?
The priests and levites ask John three questions: Are you the Christ?’
‘Are you Elijah?’ ‘Are you the prophet?’ Then they ask a fourth: ‘If
you are not the Christ, or Elijah or the Prophet then why are you
baptising?’
John answered the first three questions quite honestly by saying no to
them all. The first and the last were really the same question since
the Christ and the Prophet were words used interchangeably for the
Messiah.
But John, if you think about it, wouldn’t have been very far wrong if
he had said he was Elijah. Elijah was supposed to return as an
immediate precursor to the Messiah. And actually in Matthew’s Gospel,
Jesus after coming down from the Mount of the Transfiguration referred
to John the Baptist as Elijah.
After seeing the vision of Moses and Elijah on either side of Jesus
when he was Transfigured, Peter, James and John asked, ‘We know that
you are the Messiah, but how is it that Elijah did not come to announce
your coming?’ Jesus replied, clearly referring to John the Baptist,
‘Elijah has come already.’ (Mt 17,12)
The fourth question is also worth some reflection, ‘Why then are you
baptising?’ John, of course, does not directly answer but makes a
declaration that the Messiah is already here and he says with heavy
irony, ‘he is standing among you.’ Those proud priests go away
unsatisfied and with hatred in their hearts, confirmed in their
ignorance and determined that they would punish John for his impudence.
We too face such questions. We too are asked who we are and what are we
doing. Often our questioners are just as hard in their hearts as John’s
inquisitors. But hopefully just as often our interrogators ask their
questions with a real desire to know the answers. Many times they ask
with a yearning in their hearts and they deserve to know the answers
and it is our duty to guide them in the right way.
But no one will ask you anything like this unless they see you actually
being a Christian; actually carrying out your Christian duties;
actually standing out from the crowd for the sake of the Gospel.
It might be that they ask you because you have been brave enough to
wear a simple cross in your buttonhole; or because you refused to take
part in some minor scam at work; or because you helped someone in need
when others went hurrying by on the other side.
But how to deal with these questions? How to answer without making a
fool of yourself? Can I suggest that first you answer the questions for
yourself. If you know why you sit here on a Sunday then it won’t be too
difficult to answer those other people. Take a little time out now and
again to make this sort of self-examination; it will repay you no end.
Not only will it help you when others put you unexpectedly on the spot
but it will give you an inner confidence and certainty which will make
you feel better in yourself.
But you could also go one step further and talk to others about your
faith. Ask each other about your motives and priorities in life and
where Jesus fits in. Perhaps we Catholics aren’t too good at it.
For many years we weren’t encouraged to do that sort of thing, we were
supposed to sit back and accept what we were told by those in
authority. But this sort of ecclesiastical put-down doesn’t have a
place in today’s world.
The Church has moved on and realises that such questioning is good.
After all, it gives the Holy Spirit room to work. It leads to a
deepening of faith and an increased trust in the teaching of the
Church. But if the Church has moved on then perhaps we too need to move
on and open our mouths and share our faith a little.
How frequently you find a perfectly good Catholic family who all
believe the same things and who pray to the same God and yet never
exchange a word about this most important aspect of their lives.
Think of the power of good that could be done; think of how they could
strengthen each other just by sharing a few words with each other about
their common faith! Think of the support they could give to each other,
think of the doubts and uncertainties that could be so easily resolved!
Jesus stands among us, just as he stood unrecognised among those
priests and levites. He is there as a hidden presence. Not threatening,
not judging, not spying on us or interfering; but just there cool,
calm, patient, content to let things take their course. He is just
there beside us.
Be aware of his hidden presence and you will have no fear when you face
questions. Just realising that he is by your side in your family
conversations will surely help you to share your faith with each other
and help you to find a common meaning and purpose in your life.
Knowing he is close to us strengthens us in unity and bolsters our
faith and gives us the courage to be fearless witnesses to his name.
Don’t forget who it really is that wants you to clam up, who wants you
to feel awkward when it comes to matters of religion, who wants you to
hesitate and stumble in the face of your questioners. The evil one is
quite happy to exploit your reluctance. He wants to strike you dumb and
fill your mind with confusion and make you shy and bashful about
matters of faith.
Rather take heart from the words of Paul and let it be our prayer for
each other, ‘May the God of peace make you perfect and holy; and may
you all be kept safe and blameless, spirit, soul and body, for the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ’ who is Lord for ever and ever. Amen.
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Father Bonar will not be posting homilies for Cycle B to allow himself
time for other projects. His collection of homilies (including homilies
for Cycle B) is available at www.clydebonar.com.
3 Advent |
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These
homilies may be copied and adapted for your own use;
however, they may not be commercially published without permission of
the author.
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