Prepare the Way of the Lord

2^nd Sunday of Advent (B); 12-10-17

Is 40:1-5,9-11   Ps 85   2 Pt 3:8-14   Mk 1:1-8

Deacon Jim McFadden; (New) Folsom Prison

 

In today’s Gospel, we once again hear proclaimed the person of John the Baptist, who plays a prominent role in Mark’s Gospel. Who is this very eccentric guy with whom most of us would have difficulty in identifying?   His clothing would not make any of the fashion magazines: he’s wearing a camel hide coat “with a leather belt around his waist” to hold it in place. He’s living in the desert—he’s basically homeless. And, his culinary taste are bizarre as he feeds on locusts and wild honey. Bon apatite! Put bluntly, he has made himself an outsider of his own society.

The question is Why? In proclaiming and recognizing Jesus as the Messiah, he knows that Jesus will turn the world on its head—that there will be a great reversal of values. The Good News that Jesus will proclaim will call us into a new situation, a new set of circumstances where our old assumptions are questioned and not tolerated anymore. We have to be willing to see with a new set of eyes. We have to be willing to embrace that path; we must let the Truth, who is Jesus, into our Mind, Heart, and very Soul. We must let the Truth in if we’re going to be converted to the Way.

Like John the Baptist, we have to take a step back from the dominant culture of our society and make ourselves an outsider to see how much of its secular, self-referential values permeate our lives. Have we been seduced by our culture? Have we accepted the way of consumerism, dominative power and control, status and prestige as being normative? Do we think that unbridled pleasure will lead to the good and happy life? How much have we absorbed or are affected by these cultural values?

The dominative consciousness gives rise to a False Kingdom, which must be deconstructed. What does it look like? Several years ago, Pope Francis stated that the world has become “a throwaway culture when money not human beings is at the center of society. At the center of every economic and political system there must be the human person, who is made in the image of God. When the person is displaced and the god of money arrives, then we have the inversion of values…When that happens, economic systems must make war in order to survive. Thus weapons are manufactured and sold and, in this way the economic system sacrifices human beings at the feet of money. …An economic system based on money also needs to plunder nature in order to sustain its own frenzied pace of consumption, which has devastating effects on climate change. Brothers and sisters, Creation is not a possession we can dispose of as we please and its certainly not the private preserve of a few; but, it is a gift, it’s a previous present that we are meant to be stewards” (Pope Francis at the World Meeting of Popular Movements; October 28, 2014).

2000 years ago John the Baptist extricated himself from this kind of cultural illusion. He stood on the side and believed the Truth, who is Jesus, and pointed to him, the Lamb of God, who shows us the Way back into the world. In his liberation, John proclaimed that “I have baptized with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mk 1:7-8). John started the process of conversion and Jesus completed it with a baptism for the forgiveness of sins. Brothers and sisters, forgiveness is absolutely necessary within the Kingdom of God! Within that context, forgiveness is the beginning, middle, and end of Jesus’ teachings. But, it’s so difficult to accept: the betrayals, disloyalties, untruths, rejections get more and more difficult to forgive as we get older. To let go of our hurts and resentments is hard.

And, it’s even more difficult to forgive ourselves.   To forgive the dark and shadowy part of ourselves; to forgive that part of ourselves that does not live what we preach. It’s difficult to forgive that part of our personalities that we just don’t like and we’re afraid that if people see the real me, they won’t like me either.

During Advent we have the opportunity to step back, examine what and Who rules our hearts, to examine what values guide our life, and to forgive and change. Once we accept the alternative teachings and consciousness contained in the Good News, then and only then can we risk going back into the world. No longer will its false promises have a hold on us.

How wise of Holy Mother the Church to create these four weeks of Advent to extricate ourselves from what can be a hectic season to focus on how well we live the Good News. We prepare for and celebrate Jesus’ historical birth as a manifestation of the way in which we renew and rebirth Him in our very being and then carry that incarnate presence into the world. Amen.

 

 

           

 

 

           

 

The Peaceable Kingdom

2^nd Sunday of Advent; 12-4-16

Is 11:1-10   Ps 72   Rom 15:4-9   Mt 3:1-12

Deacon Jim McFadden; St. John the Baptist C.C.

 

         The 1^st Sunday of Advent was about “becoming a peacemaker,” and never training for war again and what it is we’re waiting for and how to wait in hope. People who in the minority hope differently than those who seek hope in the goods of the world. Promises from God sound very different to a minority who seem to have the deck stacked against them then the promises of those who are wealthy and are in control, who are a part of the dominant culture.

Christianity is always about a remnant: a minority, a counter-cultural group. Mainstream Christianity seems to have little impact on our dominant culture. But, as G.K. Chesterton once said, it’s not that Christianity has failed and found wanting, but it has never been tried by the majority of people—including Christians! The closer we get to the heart of Catholicism, the smaller the remnant becomes. But, the remnant is like a signal-flare that gives witness to the heart of the faith.

 

The first reading from Isaiah is about the remnant, which is reflected in the peaceable kingdom. All the animals live in harmony, though it’s so difficult for humans to do so. We want harmony, but we prepare for war. “If all you’ve got is a hammer, everything else is going to look like a nail.” It our current world situation, living without war an in harmony seems unattainable if not impossible. But, if we don’t think that’s possible can we really accept the idea of God becoming a human being? We need to expand our way of thinking, believing, and seeing, because God did indeed became human.

 

The account of St. John the Baptist continues the “sock-it-to-you” readings. John is about judgment, but is also about joy because he goes before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways. Somehow, part of that preparation is about judgment. Let’s see how John prepares the way.

 

The preaching of John the Baptist, Matthew 3:1-12. Let’s look at this Sunday’s gospel. John the Baptist is really in your face. When asked whether they’d like to meet someone like John, most people would say, “Check, please.” Like all prophets, John sees reality.   That’s why we don’t like them. They see as God sees it and point to things (about ourselves, our human condition) that we don’t want to see. We go to great pains to hide our darkness, even doing very pious and religious practices to disguise our hardness; the Pharisees and Sadducees were, after all, very strict in their religious practices. In fact, they were the heads of religious groups. John goes after those who have power within political and religious structures and who use that power to dominate, control, and manipulate.

John’s message is one repentance and preparation for the coming of the Messiah. Somehow, part of that preparation is judgment. In order to be prepared for something, we’ve got to take stock of who we are, who we’ve become, what we’ve got and don’t got, where our weaknesses are, and where we’re missing the boat. The story of the Baptist really begins when we ask ourselves what is my sin and do I have time to undo it? What am I going to do regarding this call to conversion—to prepare a place for the Messiah? Am I wiling to make the changes necessary so that the quality of my life will be different from what came before? Make no mistake: the call to conversion is NOW!

John the Baptist asks the hard questions, shows us where we are and leaves us to make a choice. The message of John is quite clear: if we don’t repent, convert, we won’t know who Jesus is. John is a necessary stage before we can encounter Jesus; before Jesus can proclaim the Good News—the Kingdom of God—we have to denounce the Bad News—the False Kingdom. John points to something bigger than who he is. If we can’t deal with John, then we won’t be able to deal with the One who comes after because He calls us to an even more radical conversion. John recognizes this when he says that he is not even worthy to bend down and until His sandals. John is very clear in his vocation: if we don’t reform and if we have trouble with him, wait until you see what the One with the winnowing fan is going to do!

How do we know that we are embracing conversion? John challenges us to give some kind of concrete evidence that we mean to reform: “to produce good fruit” as he states it. Between now and Christmas what sort of evidence will emerge that shows that we are open to reform and change so that we can see the Child, Who is the fire? Jesus is not a cuddly child in a manger, but the One who will rock the very foundations of the entire world. He is the One who brings Light and Fire.

Brothers and sisters, we know the Christmas story! It’s up to us. If there is going to be justice, peace, harmony, and happiness within our hearts, then we’ve to make it a reality. Pablo Picasso said, “You’ve got the canvas, brushes, and oils. If you can imagine it, talk about it, or express it in some way, you can make it a reality.” If there is going to be peace on earth in some form that is going to be new and radical and yet very natural, it will be because we’ve taken John’s call to conversion seriously.