THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT
14 DECEMBER 2014
The
words of Isaiah the prophet are filled with hope and promise. Standing on the ruins of Jerusalem after the
return of his people from their fifty year captivity in Babylon, he is filled
with the spirit of the Lord and makes some bold promises to save his
people. 500 years later, when
expectations for the coming of the Savior were very high, many people
identified John the Baptist as the one who would fulfill these promises. He fits Isaiah's job description well. The spirit of God is definitely upon
him. He announces glad tidings to the
poor. His words heal the brokenhearted,
and all the other duties assigned by Isaiah.
His bold words in the desert raise the question about who is the Messiah
– John or Jesus. Both proclaimed the
Kingdom of God. Because John came first
and baptized Jesus, some thought that Jesus was a disciple of John.
But John
the Baptist is very secure in his identity and in his role. When the religious authorities start grilling
him, he defines himself in terms of who he is not. He is not the Christ. He is not Elijah come back again. He is not the prophet described by Moses. He is the one who points to the one who
identifies himself as "I am" in the rest of John's Gospel. Jesus uses that term, "I am," to
identify himself with God who revealed himself to Moses in the burning
bush. Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He is the vine. He is the Light of the world. He is the way, the truth, and the life. John's role is to point to him and tell
people the truth about him.
In knowing
his true identity and mission, John displays true humility. He is in sharp contrast to the frog in one of
Aesop's Tales. The frog is tired of the
muddy pond where he spends his life. He
wants to see the world. So, he talks a
stork into allowing him to hold onto his leg to fly above the earth's beauty
and diversity. But the frog's small
hands are too small and slimy. Every
time the stork takes off, the frog loses his grip and falls back into the
water. Finally, the frog decides to
attach himself with his mouth. It
works. As the stork flies high with the
frog attached to his leg, some bird watchers marvel at the incredible sight of
these two creatures working so well together.
They say, "How ingenious these two animals are! I wonder which of them came up with this
idea." Swelling with pride at their
compliments and wanting to take credit for his cleverness, the frog blurted
out, "I did." And he fell to
his death.
It is with
the humility of John the Baptist that we enter into these final two weeks to
prepare to celebrate the first coming of Christ at Christmas. Instead of pointing to himself and giving in
to the adulation of the crowds, John keeps his gaze fixed on Jesus Christ. He invites us to do the same. We may be preparing to celebrate his first
coming and waiting for him to come again, but he is already in our midst. He invites us to keep our gaze fixed on
Jesus, who tells us over and over again that we can recognize him in the least
among us. Formed by our contact with him
in the Sacramental life of the Church, we humbly recognize him in our Latino
brothers and sisters of our sister parish of Saint Adalbert and in the poor
served by the Giving Tree. We humbly
dedicate ourselves to serving others, without worrying whether or not we get
credit or whether or not people give us credit for our good work. We recognize him in those people who annoy us
most in our lives with a humility that reminds us of the ways we are probably
annoying them also.
With the
humility of John the Baptist, we can also be honest about the ways in which we
have not shown the face of Jesus Christ in our words and actions or recognized
him in others. Come to the Advent
Penance Service. There, we can be honest
about our failures to imitate the example of John the Baptist. There God's mercy will allow that light to
shine through us in a world filled with too much darkness, as these rose
vestments shine in the purple of Advent.
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