SundayGospelReflection.org

Gospel Reflection 20061210

The trouble is grace is too big to talk about! The whole Bible is about grace. The Church is meaningless without grace. Salvation is grace. Heaven is grace. The Kingdom is grace. Love is grace. Jesus is grace.Some people think grace is something you "get more of." Grace becomes an "it," like money (or DVDs). Yet grace has come to mean something special and unique in individual lives. Grace refers to that living something that is "in" people in the way love is "in" husbands and wives and other kinds of friends. When we speak of grace we need to remember that it is not an "it" but a living relationship. It is not "out there" (to be gotten more of) but "in here," in my being, my heart-head-body person. To put it in God's words, God wants to communicate with us in a deep, intimate way, so God surrounds us, like the air—gently, respecting our freedom, giving us room and time. But God more passionately longs to be with us than the most ardent lover ever wanted to be with the beloved.

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December 10, 2006
Second Sunday of Advent

GospelLk 3:1-6In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee,and his brother Philip tetrarch of the regionof Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert.John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah:A voice of one crying out in the desert:“Prepare the way of the Lord,make straight his paths.Every valley shall be filledand every mountain and hill shall be made low.The winding roads shall be made straight,and the rough ways made smooth,and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”


In today's Gospel Luke moves us from myth to history. Naming people, citing dates, giving us a history we can check, Luke tells us "Prepare the way of the Lord." Like the prophet Isaiah foretold, Christ is about to invade history, get ready.Let's look at the facts. "In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar," John the Baptist was preaching repentance of sins. Pontius Pilate was the Procurator of Judea; Herod the Tetrarch of Galilee. That's the civil authority. Tiberius the Emperor of Rome, Pontius Pilate the local king, appointed by the Emperor, and third in line, Herod. History records the dates of these rulers.Luke mentions Annas and Caiaphas as the high priests. Caiaphas became high priest in the year 18, and held the office for eighteen years. Annas had retired, but remained leader of the Sadducees.Luke says, have no doubt. These are historical facts. These men were the emperor and the kings and high priests.Then, among all these important people, Luke names a nobody, John the Baptist. John only worthy of mention because people started to listen to him. John the Baptist attracted a huge following. Preaching repentance, droves of people came to be baptized. Luke's details tell us, Christ was about 29 years old when John the Baptist started to preach.John the Baptist is preaching, God is about to invade history. We're told: "Prepare the way of the Lord." Isaiah foretold it; John, a voice crying out in the desert, proclaims it. Make ready. With the Baptist there was no messing, no ambiguity or double-talk, no political correctness and even less etiquette. He was rude and crude, direct, unabashed, certain of his message, clear in its delivery and would not take no for an answer. Jesus calls him the greatest of all men born of women and “a prophet, yes more than a prophet”. The impact of John’s ministry upon the Jews and beyond was unequalled since the times of Elijah and it facilitated the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus Himself.
Saint John was courageous, a great man who possessed a strong faith that no one was able to weaken. Until he began his public life he had lived a hidden life in the desert, a strict and austere life of complete fasting. Besides being a righteous man he was also a great preacher. He said what he knew had to be said, without regard to whether people liked what they heard or not. And he never betrayed his principles. He followed Christ and his teachings. The words that Our Lord used to describe John are enviable. Speaking about John, he said, “among those born of women, there has been none greater than John the Baptist”. (Mt 11:11)
The Church, throughout the liturgical year and throughout the Advent Season that we are in, announces to us that Christ will soon return. Christmas is near and we should prepare ourselves to receive him as he deserves. Let us remember what we have heard in the Gospel. May Saint John the Baptist be an example for us to follow.

Today we focus on John the Baptist, one of the great figures of the bible. He is proclaiming and calling for attention. He wants to be heard and heeded. A man with a message and he is on fire with it. Repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Prepare a way for the Lord.
John doesn’t sound like the kind of man you would invite home for dinner. His message sounds so grim to us – penance, straightening crooked ways and smoothing rough ones. He thinks it’s good news.
Woe to the prophet who prophecies peace, joy and tranquility when the society before him has become dissolute! How can there be peace when justice is denied, manipulated or emptied of its fundamental meaning? How can there be joy when love has been reduced to comfort, pleasure and mutual admiration? How can there be holiness when what is intrinsically evil is itself exalted as worthy of emulation and what is intrinsically good is declared as discriminatory, hypocritical or obsolete? If the prophet were to speak comforting clichés to such a society he would only become a tool of the self-flattery of fools; instead of calling them to life, he would be shepherding them on to death. And when judgment comes, the prophet will be asked by the fool: “why did you fail to point out the error of my ways?” For the prophet to go with the flow is to perish with the foolish.
To prepare God’s people and all people of goodwill for their encounter with the Messiah, the prophet is sent by the Messiah to urge the truth. God knows how we are inclined to forget the Day of His coming. He knows we are anxious and anguished, for He knows the weakness of our wills and the fickleness of our hearts. As a gift of mercy, He therefore sends before Himself prophets who will prepare His coming by calling the people to repentance and by strengthening their hearts with the clear, penetrating and uncompromising proclamation of the saving Truth. It is the prophet’s job to be unpopular! It is a sign of his success in stirring cold hearts to realize their condition, a realization which at first can bring anger. Certainly, kindness and mercifulness must be his, but at some point he has to spell out the truth and neither get himself nor his hearers lost in the more pleasant landscape of that kindness. The prophet will reflect the uncanny combination, found in Jesus Himself, of warm, charismatic openness and unbending fidelity to the rock of Truth. The prophet is both warm and hard: warm in love and hard in rock-solid faithfulness to the truth.
We are in Advent, time to analyze our own lives, time to examine ourselves, time to see if we have grown in faith or if we have stood still in time, and time to prepare ourselves to live righteously. Saint John invites us to do just that. How can we prepare? Well, we should repent of our sins both present and past, we should be sincere with ourselves and with our confessor, trying to cast sin out of our lives and trying not to pay attention to that modern fad, that idea that many have in this society, that nothing is sinful. This is an error in which, unfortunately, many have fallen. Sin continues to be sin.
We sometimes talk about God's unconditional love. What that phrase means is that by his very nature God loves us. And his nature cannot change. His love is unconditional because, of all beings, he is without conditions.* However, unconditional love does not mean that he is content to leave us as we are - or let us do anything we please, like some overindulgent grandparent. It would be a pretty meager love if God did not expect something of us. St. Paul tells us that God wants us to be "pure and blameless." Are you pure and without blame? I know I am not. But God wants you and me to become pure and blameless. In the Gospel, St. John proclaims a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin. We cannot experience the love of God, the affection of Jesus Christ, unless we recognize our sins. To come into God's presence requires cleansing. Allow me to use a comparison, which perhaps is overly simple. I have a dog for whom I feel a great affection. He does almost everything I ask him and requires very little persuasion. There is, however, one thing which he hates and fears: a bath. If he realizes I am leading him to a bucket of soapy water and a hose, he digs in his paws and becomes immovable. I pet him, I speak to him nicely, I offer him a treat - all to no avail. Finally, I have to drag him to the dreaded water. Once I begin scrubbing, he seems to resign himself to the ordeal. And when the bath is over, he runs and shakes himself for pure joy. So far he has never run away. You and I might have similar feelings toward the cleansing God wishes to give us in the Sacrament of Reconciliation - which is a kind second baptism. How difficult to acknowledge our sin before God and another human being! We might think, "I am clean enough." But God does not see it that way. He wants us to be pure and blameless.
Let us concentrate on John’s attitude and try to make that attitude part of our own lives. We see that in his ministry John did not look for honors for himself. He did not care for personal honors. He never tried to be the center of attention. He always recognized that, in comparison to the Messiah, he was nothing. We should try to remember the attitude that Saint John had so that we do not fall into the human tendency to try to outshine others and to care about “me first and me always.” John gives us a great lesson in humility and we should think of this great man’s life as an example for our lives. John shows us the “straight road” that we have to follow if we want to have a successful apostolate, as he did. First of all, our apostolate should allow Christ to shine out, so that we can give him all of our attention without trying to grab all of the attention for ourselves. The first thing that a good Christian should do, if, like John, he or she wishes to focus attention on the Lord, is to forget about himself or herself, tiptoeing through life, as it were, so as not to place God in a secondary role. If we place ourselves selfishly in the limelight, as we see many people do, it will be impossible to have enough room left over so that people will come into contact with Jesus.
We have an obligation, as did Saint John, to give testimony of our Christian faith through our spotless following of the Lord. If we follow him in this way, we will be able to bring others closer to him so that they can truly get to know him. Saint John said that all of us have to straighten out our lives. Our goal, as Christians, should always be to struggle with all our might so that in us, in our way of life, the light of Christ can be seen. Of those who act this way others should be able to say, “we can see that he or she follows Christ because in him or her there is peace instead of hatred.”
To be ready to welcome the baby Jesus, we need to spruce up a bit. Parts of our lives we need to tidy up, there's rubble to be carted away, to make us worthy to greet Christ. John the Baptist offers a "to do" list.As a first "to do," John the Baptist tells us, "clear him a straight path." So we ask ourselves: What "baggage" have I accumulated that could block the way to Christ? A good way to find the baggage is to clock ourselves, keep a record of how much time we spend on what we do. One man complained about not having time to pray. Then he kept tabs for a week on what he did each hour of the day. First thing in the morning, the TV came on. Same thing each evening. In the house from work, on comes the TV. Very quickly the man realized, he spent more time watching television than either working or sleeping. Hours of the TV blasting left no time for God. A first "to do," look for the baggage that diverts our attention away from God.Then, John the Baptist says, "fill in every valley, level every hill." A myriad of Christian acts pop into mind. Rick and Hugh never got along at work. Then their boss challenged them, look for something good about each other, and tell each other the good you see in the other person. When we speak kind words, and we fill in a valley. Same works in the family. Jeff and Donna have always had a wonderful marriage. Started while engaged. Jeff gets a little gift for Donna from time to time. Donna does the same with Jeff. Neither on any schedule, so that each gift is also an unexpected surprise. That much more a delight. A couple daily renewing their love for each other.Wonderful examples of loving neighbor, as Jesus commanded. Every time we do a compassionate deed, say a kind word, share ourselves with another, we fill in the valleys, level the hills.Third, John the Baptist encourages us to "straighten the winding roads." Here we might mention getting rid of anger and prejudice; to give up deceiving and manipulating.Always anger could use some work. Start with road rage. Then, with their mother now in a nursing home, think of brother and sister fighting about caring for their mother. Or, at work, co-workers get angry with jealousy about someone else getting "their" promotion.And, we do connive and manipulate and deceive. Kids do it with parents. The child tells dad: "Mom said I could, if you say O.K." Then, to mom, "Day said it would be O.K. with him, but to ask you." At work, we do the same. How often we tell the boss in so many different ways, "Not my fault."Get ready, John the Baptist tells us. And gives us a "to do" list. Clear the path, get rid of our baggage; fill in the valleys, like Jesus commanded, love your neighbor as yourself; straighten the road, wipe out anger, stop manipulating.It's now the Second Sunday of Advent. The birth of Jesus gets closer and closer. We "Prepare the way of the Lord." Our goal: to make Christ the true guiding light of our lives, living as Christ taught us, each and every day.
Before all the excitement, which can be great at this time of year we need to stop and think about “What I need to change in my life?” In our own life there are many things that we need to straighten out. The hills that block our view of the one who is to come could be the mounting resentment, which we never resolved. How about the valley of our patience and tolerance with one another? Has the water of charity stopped flowing from my very being? Are there any familiar ways that have become self-destructive which I can leave behind?
In my own small way, on this Sunday, what can I change? What obstacle can I remove to prepare a way for the Lord?
We know Christmas is coming - it will every year - and we will celebrate, some more than others, and we do realize we are celebrating the fact that Jesus our Saviour was born - and sometimes we even think about what this means to us - but how often do we think about the fact that he will come again? As we prepare for Christmas and that day gets closer we can easily get drawn into the "Baby Jesus syndrome" and the holidays which are around the corner - so much so that we might just forget that our salvation is not quite complete. We still have our lives to live and we have our part to play before that Joy of Salvation is experienced fully.

We need to do as much, if not more, today than what was required from our forefathers. Bewilderment and fear are not uncommon experiences in our lives and we need to work on our faith - our religious convictions - improve our knowledge - and increase our love for each other.

It is our task to evangelize - spread the true meaning of Christmas in our world, in our time, by word as well as example. If we do this we will truly experience the Joy of Salvation.

We need the crying voice of John the Baptist today. In His Providence, we hope that God may send us a new prophet with the Baptist’s spirit and uncomplicated oratory, to turn the hearts of children back to their fathers and of fathers back to their children. Every one of us needs the grace of the Baptist: that deep-felt, sixth sense for the presence of Jesus and the fearlessness of spirit to make His presence felt wherever we discern its absence. Discernment and prophecy are not the monopoly of the few: they are given to us all in baptism. By courageous witness to Christ, through an ever-stronger fidelity to our Christian commitment, we may not ourselves be the prophet of God for which one senses the need today, but we can help do the ground-work that will enable God to provide the voice He sees fit to turn a world, run morally and spiritually a mock, back to Himself. The urgent state of the world makes Advent all the more timely and challenges us to divest ourselves of our complacency and, in deafening chorus with the Baptist, to cry out in our contemporary desert: Repent! Prepare ye the way of the Lord!
Just to sum up: God's unconditional love - made evident in Jesus - does not mean indulgence. He is not a dottering grandfather, who just likes to "watch the kids have a good time." No, he is a loving Father with high expectations for his children - that we become pure and blameless. He invites us today to turn away from sin and allow him to cleanse us. Such is the affection of Christ Jesus.

posted by Mike Young @ 6:29 AM