Readings for the Third Sunday of Advent:
Isaiah 35.1-6a; 10 Psalm 146.6-10 James 5.7-10 Matthew 11.2-11
In last week’s gospel passage we had John the Baptist talking about Jesus; John explaining just how different the Messiah will be from himself as a prophet of God – he who is coming will be more than a spokesperson for God but someone who comes with the power of God; and as we know and many then came to know, Jesus was and is God.
Now, this week, we have Jesus talking about John the Baptist; and here he is trying to explain what John’s role is in the history of salvation. It’s especially important because at that moment, with John imprisoned by evil Herod Antipas, people were growing discouraged. We need to remember that a great many people thought that John was the Messiah. Jesus is clarifying this for their sake, but I think also for us today: Jesus is the Messiah, John is a prophet albeit a unique one. John is an important messenger from God who is calling humanity to receive Christ.
When we sit in Church and we hear a preacher, myself for example, call for repentance, we need to remember what is happening because the preacher here is functioning as a prophet. So, the preacher is not offering judgment because God alone judges the soul, and judgment is not now. As preacher and pastor, I call people to repentance (myself included!); I don’t judge. And in the sense that there is any accusation in what you may hear in this call to turn back and return to God, that’s not my doing. I broadcast the message; there is no particular person in my mind. If you get a personal note; that’s from the Holy Spirit.
My insistence on repentance and return to the Church as the Body of Christ doesn’t come from some vain desire to fill this place up so as to impress the bishop or give myself some sense of accomplishment. It’s the promise made at ordination to do this that compels me. As I look around the world and see how it is coming for you, coming for us, like a ravening lion seeking who he might devour, I suppose I can be overly insistent and like John the Baptist, and any of the countless preachers of the Church down through the past two thousand years, I can sometimes be abrasive.
I come more and more to know the burden I bear as pastor and priest which in its difficulty, I nonetheless grow closer to Christ. It’s a burden of worry that we all share through our common vocation of priesthood; that priesthood of all the baptized: it is one of worry for those we know, and those encountered who we barely know, becoming anxious for them because they are going the wrong way and too often, will not heed good direction.
The whole matter of Medical Assistance in Dying or MAID has for me become a powerful metaphor for our current spiritual crisis in Western Civilization, and Canadian society in particular. You may have seen reports in the media that it is now a leading cause of death in Canada (10,000 roughly this past year, and the number expected to rise), and that our country is now seen as an example of the infamous slippery slope – we are caught up now in the supposed unanticipated consequence of poorly considered decisions. And yet our government seems intent on deepening and broadening this tragedy.
Catholic clergy are now encountering it; I have. And when we compare our experiences, we are seeing a common pattern: there will be a person who identifies as Catholic. That is, they’ve been marginal to the worshipping community for some time, haven’t really progressed in their understanding of the faith beyond what they learned as adolescents; of course, in the last three years, they haven’t even come for Christmas and Easter. They don’t watch mass on television or do any reading or viewing of material that instructs on an adult level the faith.
The person is suffering; but not necessarily dying. There is no awareness of the great world religions which all hold that suffering is integral to life. Indeed, the Buddhist tradition draws no distinction: life is suffering. In Christianity, however, suffering is redemptive. We look to a man on a cross for our salvation.
Anyway… they decide to inquire about MAID and enter the process of being evaluated for up to a year, but at the least for many months. The whole conversation is about their suffering from a strictly medical and psychological perspective. The family usually takes the position of being supportive of whatever decision their loved one makes because that is what our culture has told them is the right thing to do. The date and time are then set for someone to come and administer the fatal injection.
Then I get called.
I may get to talk with the person for an hour. I start the conversation with the sincere question: have you called me in for a second opinion?
The answer is “no” but rather, drawing on their Catholic roots, the last rites are asked for. And then, I have to gently but firmly explain that I can’t offer them because by their plan they are breaking communion; and that is not just a matter of my personal beliefs but comes of Church teaching, and explicit direction from the bishop in written guidelines. The response is, at least for me, quite shocking – with only vague notions of what their Christian and Catholic faith is about, the person tells me, “I will deal with God when the time comes” – so certain that it’s just a matter of personal conviction, that personal notions of truth will win the argument. It’s like they’ve never heard of the Book of Job.
I have now had these experiences, and I can’t help but draw an analogy between them and my ministry with the Catholic community in general: with most Catholics, at best, I get ten minutes of your time every week to speak directly to you. For some, who for whatever reason can’t make it here, I might have ten minutes in a month. If I can’t persuade people to subscribe to the online service FORMED (and it’s free!), if men can’t be convinced to participate in the Knights of Columbus’ Into the Breach discussion groups, or folks prompted to join in things like the “33 Days to Morning Glory” study and prayer group; then you, and I mean “you” in a very generic sense, may not have much in the way of ongoing formation in the faith. Set against that is the torrent of messages from the world that draw us away from God, and pull us into the degeneration, decadence and decay of a collapsing secular culture that is so obviously tearing itself apart and descending into madness.
The only leverage I have is to remind us all that we made promises, and then I deal with the not infrequent resentment and rejection that comes my way for having reminded people. John the Baptist came to remind Israel of its covenant; that the nation had committed itself to be a people of unique vocation: to show forth the glory of God, to make a home for Him among mortal men and women; that it was time again to prepare God’s way and to make of the land of Israel the place where God will come to be with humanity.
In our baptism into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we made promises; if we brought children to the font, we made promises as parents and godparents; and we have all likely broken these to one extent or another.
Let me be clear with regard to myself as disciple of Jesus Christ and priest of His Church, mea culpa, I am guilty of breaking these promises, of forsaking God’s covenant in the blood of Jesus Christ. Yet, I will allow myself this, and only this, I come back. I come back, I repent, because I recall the words of St. Peter when confronted with the reality of who Jesus is and fell to his knees and tried to excuse himself from Christ’s presence, “go away from me, Lord. For I am a sinful man.” And yet, Jesus Christ won’t let us get away with that – rather, he grabs us all by the shoulders and lifts us back to our feet, and enlists us in his great cause because we are sinners who do acknowledge Him and know him as their saviour.
In today’s gospel we get a hint of frustration in what Jesus asks the crowds, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken in the wind?” What is the expectation we have when we come here, to this place? Is it only for blessings? For affirmation of our choices, however good or bad they may be?
Jesus comes to challenge us in our comforts, whether they be material or spiritual, but he does so out of profound concern for our immortal souls, and for our immediate peace in the spirit. John was the same in his call for repentance.
Now this is Gaudete Sunday, the Sunday of Rejoicing; and I really struggled with this gospel text because it seems to be one that is admonishing rather than rejoicing.
John the Baptist cried, “Repent!” – which I am sure you know is a translation from Aramaic by way of Greek into our modern English language, and it can translated as “turn around!” or “come back!” Indeed, turn around and get walking, because then what will come into view will be cause for joy.
It’s Bambinelli Sunday when many will bring precious figures of the Christ-child for blessing –
in coming forward, the figure of the baby in our hands, that is repentance, that is a turning toward God, that is a response in faith to the Baptist’s cry. In coming here, through this Advent and beyond, is a turning, is a coming back for a sincere and full receiving of blessing and grace into our lives; we come empty-handed to receive Christ into our lives.
By doing this, in the face of a darkening world, we can indeed “Be strong, and not fear.” For here is your God who will come and save you.
Amen.