THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT

Between chapter three of Matthew’s Gospel, where we met him last week, and chapter eleven of the same Gospel, where we meet him today, John the Baptist has made a thoroughly modern journey. Last week we saw him emerge from the wilderness of Judaea so sure of himself and his message that wasn’t afraid to confront even the Pharisees and the Sadducees. A brood of vipers was how he described them. People flocked to hear him, news of him spread everywhere, and as he baptized the people in the Jordan John was a man at the peak of his powers. Now, however, just a few chapters and a few months later, it’s a very different John we meet. He’s in prison now. News of what Jesus is doing is filtering back to him and, clearly, he’s disturbed. John, with his garment of camel hair and leather belt round his waist, was every inch the Old Testament prophet. Fire, brimstone and dire warnings about the future were the tools of John’s trade and he fully expected the Messiah to be the same. Things weren’t working out like that, however. Jesus was not living up to John’s expectations, and as he lay there in his dark cell, dark thoughts were surfacing in him. He had gone into the desert convinced that God was leading him there. He had emerged from it convinced he was doing God’s work. His whole life was about ministry. He had sacrificed everything for it and now he was having to confront some truly terrifying questions. What if he were wrong? What if he had been deceiving himself all these years? What if it was Satan and not God he had met in the wilderness? What if his whole life had been a mistake? And so, in desperation, John sends some friends to ask Jesus: “Are you the one who is to come, or have we to wait for someone else?”

John’s struggle, of course, is the struggle of many in today’s world. Like him, we are living through a time of transition and many things are not turning out as we had expected. For John, it was the movement from the Old to the New Testament. For us, it’s the movement from one way of thinking and one way of being Church to another and it is proving as disturbing for many good people today as it was for John. Our whole way of thinking about God is in turmoil. Old images of who God is, images which, like the OT itself, sustained people’s faith for centuries, are proving totally inadequate for the world we live in. We have lived through a period of change in the Church the likes of which few generations in history have had to deal with, at least in terms of the speed with which it has happened. All kinds of thing we once believed and held dear are questioned now and our faith in the Church itself as an institution to be trusted has undergone serious re-evaluation in the light of things which have emerged in recent years. And so it is hardly surprising that that there are people around today who feel pretty much the way John did in his prison all those centuries ago. What is going on? What, if anything do I believe any more, about God, about Jesus, about being a Catholic? Is the modern world right when it says religion is a thing of the past. Do I really want to be part of it anymore? These are serious question requiring serious answers.

For some, of course, Jesus’ answer in today’s Gospel is not a real answer at all. Jesus, however, has too much respect for John to give him the kind of answer we, deep down, would like God to give. He doesn’t resolve John’s doubts. He simply invites him to look around and observe what is happening. The answer, he is saying, is all around you. It’s in your own experience. You don’t need me to answer these questions for you. You can answer them for yourself. And the reason Jesus has such confidence in John is that he recognizes in him a man of great personal maturity. John, he says, is no reed swaying in the wind, blown about by every passing breeze. Worldly honours mean nothing to him and so he cannot be bought and sold. John is a prophet who makes up his own mind about things and that is what Jesus invites him to do now. Reflect on your experience, he tells him. Engage with these doubts and questions. Don’t be afraid of them and they will lead you to the truth.

At the heart of what Jesus says, of course, is the notion of maturity. It is absolutely vital for men and women of faith today and without it we will struggle to survive the times we are living through. Faced with so many unanswered questions and, even more importantly, unquestioned answers, there are two main places where the fearful immature person can seek refuge. The first is to retreat into old certainties, the most extreme form of this being the religious fundamentalism which all religions suffer from today and which is causing so much trouble in the world. And the second is to avoid the questions, follow the line of least resistance and go along the road, not so much of unbelief – that at least would be a decision – but of shallow, un-reflected living, the road of un-thought-through lapsing.

In between, of course, is the way of faith-filled reflection. Look around you, says Jesus, and you will see. And what I see is a new infant Church being born. Unlike the one which went before, a Church which enjoyed great worldly power for so long, it’s being born into a world which rejects it and has no room for it in its Inn. But born it will be. Nothing can stop the process even when the labour is long and painful. And when the child is born there will still be plenty of modern day Herods anxious to do away with it. But, despite everything, there are people around who understand what is happening. Most of them are not powerful or important in the ordinary sense of the word but they know with that deep interior knowledge that comes from God that this new Church with its emphasis on faith and justice rather than religion and power is our hope for the future; that the birth we are witnessing is Good News for people everywhere. That’s what I see and invite you to see it too.

It may be, of course, that you cannot see it...yet. Maybe, like John, you, too, are confused and uncertain. Well, that’s OK. Keep an open mind and, in time, it will become clear. I promise you.

BIDDING PRAYERS

We begin this week by holding up before God all who, because things in life have not turned out the way they had hoped for or expected, have lost faith in God. We pray that they will have the courage and maturity they need to engage with the disappointments of life, finding meaning, not in what might have been, but in what has actually happened. God can only be found in what is real, no matter how difficult or painful this may be at times, and we pray for the courage we need to accept this..........Lord hear us

We pray in a special way this week for any priests who, like John the Baptist, have given their whole lives to ministry and now, seeing what is going on around them, are left sad and disillusioned, wondering if they have wasted their lives. We pray that, in the words of the first reading, God will “Strengthen weary hands, steady trembling knees and say to all faint hearts, “Courage! Do not be afraid.” While in Scotland, the Pope urged the bishops to care for priests and we pray that his words will be heard......Lord hear us

Maturity, sadly, is not something that has always been encouraged in the Church. Often in the past the very opposite was seen as virtue in people. Rather than ask questions and so explore the meaning of faith, we were encourage to be quiet and, like children, do what we were told to do and believe what we were told to believe. And so we ask God to help us become a more mature Church which encourages adult faith in all its members and so becomes more and more fit for purpose in the modern world.........Lord hear us

When it comes to the things of God, there will always be more questions than answers. This is because anything we say about God can only be partially true. The full truth will always be beyond us. And so we pray for the wisdom to see that unanswered questions are not as big a problem as unquestioned answers. There are many issues today to which people of faith have no answer and we pray for the wisdom we need to accept this, come to terms with it and live joyfully with its consequences......Lord hear us

In the second reading, St James speaks of the farmer who waits patiently for the autumn rains and spring rains so that his precious harvest can bear rich fruit. And so we pray for the patience, sense of perspective and breadth of vision we need to allow a new way of being the Church to be born in the world today. Like many new births, it can be a long and painful process. Things have to be given time to run their course. There is always a time of waiting. But we pray that, in God’s time, a new Church will be born....Lord hear us

A week on Tuesday, we will, God willing, celebrate our Advent Penance Service. By celebrating the Sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation in this way, we acknowledge to ourselves and to each other that there is a constant need for conversion both in our personal lives, in the life of the Church and in the world itself. And so we pray for the grace we need to prepare prayerfully for this event, and that, when it comes, it will be a time of deep faith for us, both a individuals and as a parish........Lord hear us