December 9, 2012

Bulletin: December 9, 2012

2^nd Sunday of Advent C Readings

Baruch 5:1-9; Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11; Luke 3:1-6
The Lord is bringing each person, each day closer to Himself. Today’s readings help me see that this journey is one that is dependent on me. What am I doing? How am I preparing? Where am I pleased with myself? Where do I find myself lacking? What does God feel about where I am at and how am I progressing? It is so easy to beat myself up for lack of direction and progress. But the Lord isn't ;  He’s just always present; always caring, inspiring, leading, affirming waiting for whatever openings I allow Him to make Himself known.
Jeremiah introduces his secretary, Baruch: “In the fourth year of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ‘Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you against Israel, Judah, and all the nations, from the day I first spoke to you, in the days of Josiah, until today. Perhaps, when the house of Judah hears all the evil I have in mind to do to them, they will turn back each from his evil way, so that I may forgive their wickedness and their sin. ‘So Jeremiah called Baruch, son of Neriah, who wrote down on a scroll, as Jeremiah dictated, all the words which the Lord had spoken to him.” (Jeremiah 36:1-4)
Like Jeremiah, Baruch would have witnessed the collapse of the kingdom and the destruction of Jerusalem. I’m sure he had thought that if only the King and the people had listened to the prophets, they would have been spared such a tragedy. They didn't. Now I would have imagined that Baruch’s message would be full of doom and gloom but it isn't. As the Reading guide in the Catholic Study Bible says, “Baruch, like Tobit and Wisdom, turns out to be the book for people who are separated or lost, physically or emotionally, from their normal environment. True, many aspects of life today in alien or foreign territory are too unique to our own time to find a witness in Baruch. Yet Baruch helps people, displaced physically or mentally, to get established and going in the right way at pace with God and their neighbors.” What a wonderful message for this season. Baruch is reminding the people that God has not forgotten them; God would bring their sons and daughters back from exile. He would level out a highway to facilitate their return. This promise was fulfilled in Jesus.
Sometimes it seems with all my busyness and craziness that God just isn’t around for me. Not true, I know this; but where is God. God has not forgotten…God remembers me always. It’s nice to be remembered, even in a small way. This is a beautiful thing that someone cares and God cares about me and every person. Not only does God care, but I matter to Him because I am His precious son; each person is a precious son or daughter. This is the good news of God that John the Baptist was sent to announce.
John the Baptist was a fascinating individual. He came from a priestly family and we never hear about his home life; he appears in the desert wilderness. He did his preaching where Moses had ended his journey and Joshua led the Israelites across the Jordan to the Promised Land. This crossing became a symbol of their entrance into a new land and new life. God had been with them each and every day of their journey; and so often they ‘did their own thing’ and rejected God. How easy it is to ‘do my own thing’ and not realize God’s presence and love. How easy it is to say that I know what Scripture says and I know and preach God but at the same time I can fail to recognize God when He reveals Himself. God’s own Chosen People believed that they would recognize the Messiah when He came but most of them did not. The name ‘Christian’ means ‘believers in Christ’ yet I and many others can be skeptical when we hear of miraculous happenings or messages from prophetic people. So the reflection for today is how can I recognize God’s presence and action in my life today?
Baruch and John the Baptism help today with this; in reality they are telling me to ‘dress myself up’. This is an unusual but effective way to describe their messages. Baruch tells the captivity people to take off their robes of mourning and misery and put on the ‘splendor of glory’. They have been mourning long enough. Now is the time to put on garments more festive and appropriate. He doesn’t mean to put on ‘your Sunday best’, but show others the splendor of God that is ever so present in my life and each person’s life. God has lifted me up countless times; He has put the right people in my life at the right time to get me back on the right track. He has corrected me and honored me; and loved me at all times. Do I celebrate this? Do others see this in me? Do I show this God who loves me? Am I grateful and do I tell God this?

Now John tells me to ‘dress up’ the inside of me; that’s what his baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins means. ‘Repentance’ is the translation of the Greek work metanoia; which literally means ‘going beyond the mind.’ What does this mean? When I look at my sins, there is something in my mind that wants me to ‘hold on to’ certain sins; my ‘favorite’ sins that I like to call on when I’m angry or lonely or disturbed or when things didn’t happen the way I wanted them to; so I can ‘strike back’ with ‘my sin’. In fact these are the sins that I ‘love’. John is saying that I am preparing for the Lord; I’m on a mission and I have things to do. I have to look directly at my sinfulness and stop, with God’s grace and help, and ‘change’ me. John Shea, a popular writer and theologian, puts it this way, “There is an adhesive quality about sinful experiences. They stick. We remember the beatings, the humiliations, the hateful glances, and the mocking words. The wronged done to us are available to memory in a way neutral and even positive experiences are not. Although the experience of sin begins with being sinned against, we are quick learners in this way of being human. We soon learn to wound others. We engage in hitting, lying, cheating, betraying, etc. We need to protect and promote ourselves at all costs.” The mind focuses on all these things and how do I react; often in the negative. The other side of this is the unconditional forgiveness of God. I have to let God forgive me and help me forgive myself. So what do I have to let go of? So I reflect on:

• I must go beyond the question ‘Will God forgive me? To “How can I go beyond the mind that clings to sin, even though God has forgiven me?
• How do I ‘dress up’ this Advent for Christmas? What needs to be taken off? What needs to be put on?
• My life is full, is it fulfilling? What is overwhelming me? How do I work on my yearning for peace, wholeness and simplicity?
• What does it mean for me to put on the glory of God? How would I be different?