Some Thoughts and Some Music on an Advent Sunday - 3
This year we're going traditional for our Sunday thoughts during Advent.
We're doing that by referencing the Gospel for each of the four Sunday's
of Advent, in order. These four Gospels were always repeated, every
year, from the time of the Council of Trent in the 16th century, until
post-Vatican II. They provide a clear path for our journey through this
Holy Season as we prepare ourselves for Christmas.
The Gospel for the Third Sunday of Advent, John 1:19-28 answers the
question of just who is this John the Baptist. In answer to an inquiry
by the priests and Levites who traveled from Jerusalem to meet him, John
answers bluntly:
I am not the Christ.
He further states that he is not Elias, nor the prophet. But he quickly
turns the tables to set things straight with these Jewish leaders:
I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaias.
How would you answer if you were asked, "Who are you?" We live in an age
when many of us aren't sure who we are. We're searching to "find"
ourselves. It's a normal process for a younger person to grapple with
this question, of course. But I've met many folks who float through life
unsure of who they are. In some sense, they're lost.
While I think I know who I am, I'm frankly not sure what I would say if
confronted by the question. Would I respond with what I do? Isn't that
how a lot of us identify ourselves - by what we do? I'm a lawyer, a cop,
an executive, a construction worker - whatever. Yes, but who are you?,
John also knew exactly what he was about. When he is asked,
Why then dost thou baptize, if thou be not Christ, nor Elias, nor the prophet?
John answers:
I baptize with water; but there has
stood one in the midst of you , whom you know not. The same is he that
shall come after me, who is preferred before me: the latchet of whose
shoe I am not worthy to loose.
John the Baptist knew exactly who he was and what he was about.
I read the recently published book The Good Neighbor: The
Life and Work of Fred Rogers. Yes, the Mr. Rogers. It was thoroughly
enjoyable, but also eye-opening. While I knew him from the TV show our
kids watched sometimes, I had no idea exactly who he was, and what he
was about. Among the many surprising revelations in the book, I learned
that Fred Rogers knew exactly who he was and exactly what he was about.
From the time he knew this, he spent his life secure in that knowledge and it motivated everything
he ultimately accomplished. And he accomplished a lot.
One thing that Fred Rogers appeared to share with John, besides a
zeal for what he did, was his deference to Jesus Christ. Isn't that
something we can all share?
Does it really matter if we're at a loss for words to answer the
question, "Who are you?"; or if we're maybe not so zealous about our
work as was Mr. Rogers? Not if we defer to Christ as did John - and Mr.
Rogers.
Remember how Jesus and John first met? It was during the Visitation of
Our Lady with her sister Elizabeth, when both were pregnant - Elizabeth
with John, Mary with Jesus. As soon as Mary arrives, Elizabeth tells her
the baby "leapt" in her womb. John, in the womb, recognized Jesus in
the womb. John and Jesus shared a permanent bond that carried through
their lives, even as John pursued his work of baptizing with the waters
of the Jordan River, while Jesus worked obscurely in Nazareth until he
began his public life. And how and with whom did he manifest himself
when he began to preach and perform miracles? It was to and with John at
the Jordan River.
This Holy Season of Advent reminds us who we are and what we are about.
We are sons and daughters of God. We are members of the Body of Christ.
Whatever work we do, if guided by His Holy Spirit can be performed for
His greater glory. It doesn't matter whether we make a lot of money or a
pittance. It doesn't matter if we're the CEO or the janitor of our
company. Not that we shouldn't try to do better. Nothing wrong with that
- as long as God comes first. Besides, even if we succeed beyond our
wildest dreams, which of us could ever hope to accomplish more than John
the Baptist?
Here's the recitative Comfort Ye from Handel's Messiah, followed by the aria that reminds us what John accomplished: Every Valley Shall Be Exalted sung by the late Jerry Hadley, a wonderful American tenor whose own work was cut short when he was far too young.
We conclude with that simple aspiration we've used to end all our posts during Advent over the years.
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