Homily for the Week of December 9, 2012

2nd Sunday of Advent, 2012 Psalm 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6 Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11 Luke 3:1-6 Each year the Academy of Motion Pictures awards an Oscar for the best supporting actor and actress. Supporting roles are seldom given the recognition they deserve. The Bible reading which I just completed tells about a person who is in a supporting role in the history of Christianity. Today we are given the story of John the Baptist, the main supporting actor in the life of Jesus. To me John the Baptist is certainly the best and most willing supporting actor in Luke’s gospel. He is an announcer of good news; and an advance man for Jesus. He doesn’t pretend to be anything else. He is happy to fulfill this simple role as a supporting actor. And when given the chance to receive the best actor award, he simply states: I am a voice in the desert crying out: make ready the way of the Lord, clear him a straight path. John the Baptist was the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, challenging people to prepare the way of the Lord. But this preparation was not literally about smoothing roads, filling in potholes, or sprucing up the buildings. It was about repenting and preparing our hearts and actions to welcome the person who was to come. And we know now that this person was Jesus. John’s preaching must have sounded strange to the listeners, as does the voice of all persons who try to make significant changes in our society or even in our own personal life.. Who would dare to say: Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill be leveled. For religious Jews this was not all that strange. About 300 years before Jesus was born Baruch wrote about the same promise. The words of John the Baptist are nearly Xerox copies of those of Baruch. But John is different from other supporting actors. Instead of playing the part, he lives the part. He is real; he is humble; he is truthful; and he is faithful. Although the gospel reading for today does not mention it, his truthfulness cost him his life at the hands of Herod. Though our lives are much less dramatic than that of John the Baptist, he is the example of all us who truly and honestly commit themselves to Jesus and the way of life which Jesus showed us. Here in our parish family, in your own families, we are invited to be humble persons making breakthroughs on behalf of Jesus. We can do this only when we allow Jesus to form and transform our lives, so that we might then help others to transform their lives. John the Baptist knew what most of us know but do not want to admit. On the roads of life most of the barriers are those we have put there ourselves. We spend loads of time stating or proving an opinion for ourselves. We set up boundaries, authority, chains of command. As a result we get so absorbed in our work that we create a valley and cannot see beyond it. Or we make the roads crooked. We keep focusing on the future rather than living the here and now. How many of us are focusing on Christmas when we are just at the second Sunday of Advent? We have also encountered and even made rough roads. We find that our moral decisions do not always reflect our Catholic teachings and way of life. Do we give priority to what is good for those with whom we live, our family and school, or what is good just for me? Advent is a time of renewal of our faith and our life. It is a time for us to welcome Jesus more closely and fully in our lives that he might transform all of our actions. Clearing the way of the Lord is not an easy task. To smooth out the roads of our lives takes a lot of work and a lot of change. What personality bumps need smoothing? But this renewal is not something which can be satisfactorily completed by changing a few minor details of daily living. After all, flattening out mountains, filling in valleys and making rough roads smooth are not easy tasks. God has in mind something radical: the coming of a new heaven and a new earth, a new kingdom of peace, of forgiveness, of a clear conscience and blameless conduct, When we do this we might value the things that really matter as Paul wrote to the Philippians. That day will be for each of us our graduation day when we have grown up. The message is clear: Jesus has come to those of us who accept him as did John the Baptist. Acceptance requires of us humility, faith and honesty so that we might remove the mountains of selfishness, valleys of weakness, and crooked roads of sin. We also learn today something new. The Greek and Roman gods did not walk among the people. They kept themselves separate. But the true God in which we believe was not only going to walk among the people — He was actually going to become one of them! Often we might find ourselves still in the wilderness unsure of what we ought to do. But the wilderness is where John the Baptist found Jesus, and where we too we can meet Jesus. The Lord who desires to meet us and lead us through the wilderness is here at this table. Let’s not try to leave our wilderness behind; let’s bring it it to this table where our healing Lord awaits us. We must be made ready for Jesus so that his coming into our lives may be as easy as possible for Him.