Dear Friends,
As the Season of Advent gradually unfolds, the central characters emerge – this week, John the Baptist. The liturgical seasons, with their different colours and moods, are meant to form us; we are now in Cycle A with Matthew’s Gospel. Last Sunday, Jesus’ message was, ‘Stay awake!’ Today, John the Baptist has a similar call, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand!’ God’s Kingdom happens when we are alert and prepared to change – the call to us, as individuals and as a community, to embrace life-change and forgiveness.
Spiritual writer Richard Rohr describes John as, ‘the strangest combination of conviction and humility, morality and mysticism, radical prophecy and living in the present’ (Preparing for Christmas p 24). Thus John is a good fit for this Advent time as we seek to reawaken our vision, our dreams for the future. As the bridge between Old and New Testaments, John’s was the last voice to be heard before Jesus - a bit like the support band that comes on before the main artist – to loosen us up, get us in the mood.
His message was not universally popular, especially when he took the Pharisees and Scribes to task when they came for baptism, but his focus was on ‘one who comes after me’ – preparing hearts and minds for Jesus. There’s a gentle reminder here to us to connect our faith practices and convictions because it’s so easy to lose sight of the purpose of our religious acts or behaviour. Even coming to Mass can become our spiritual Panadol with little personal change, little impact on the harmony between our words and actions.
In no sense is Advent meant to cramp our style – quite the opposite. Recall Jesus’ words in the discourse on the Good Shepherd which express beautifully and simply his deep desire for our wholeness: ‘I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly’ (John 10:10). Advent and Christmas invite us to connect with the roots of our being lest in our weakness and sinfulness we lose ourselves. As one of us, Jesus defines the best in our humanness once and for all.
During Advent, we are encouraged to grasp the opportunity to experience the comfort and forgiveness of Reconciliation, both as individuals and as a community. We are invited to gather as a Parish for the Communal Sacrament of Reconciliation on Thursday evening 15 December – always a special time on our journey to Christmas as we embrace the Baptist’s call to repent!
Now for an unusual insight (from an unknown writer) into the Season and the witness of the Baptist!! John is no comedian but his message reminds us that we need a sense of humour because humour is rooted in humility and recognises that there is so much we do not know and cannot control. Humour helps us smile when we fail - when our humanity gets the better of us. Humility and humour help us appreciate the efforts and failings of others and grow to care for them. There is nothing grim or glum about Advent. It is founded on Joy as we allow the Lord to stretch the cycle of our lives into a spiral and make ourselves ready to meet him.
In today’s Second Reading from Romans, St Paul has very sound advice - 'Treat each other in the same friendly way as Christ treated you’. Fr Dave