Sunday, December 15, 2013

What Did You Go Out to See?


By Rev. Joe McCloskey, SJ

Strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak, say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not!  Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you.  Isaiah 35:3-4

You too must be patient.  Make your hearts firm, because the coming of the Lord is at hand.  James 5:8

“What did you go out to the desert to see?  A reed swayed by the wind?  Then what did you go out to see?  Someone dressed in fine clothing?  Those who wear fine clothing are in royal palaces.  Then why did you go out? To see a prophet?  Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.  Matthew 11:7b-9

Piety
Joy is an infallible sign of the closeness of Christ.  Our hearts should be on fire with happiness when we realize how loved we are by God.  God created us for his love. He loves us in the presence of his Son in our lives.  How we wait for Christ is the story of our piety.  The third Sunday of Advent captures the joy in the realization that the one our hearts are crying out for is ever so much closer than before. From his prison cell John sends messages asking if Christ is the one we are awaiting. Christ is to be recognized by all the miracles of healing he is doing. The blind see, the deaf hear and the lame walk. Bread is provided for the hungry. So many miracles accompany Christ that shout out to the world that Christ is the one who is to come. Joy is how we welcome Christ. Our Sunday is the Sunday to rejoice. He is almost here.

Study
We look at the story of Christ and what he does. He speaks the truth of the Father with authority.  He claims a personal knowledge of the Father by the deeds he does. We study how Christ does it. We know he spent nights in prayer.  How much closer to him we come by seeking out the good people that are his people. The Christ of our hearts recognizes the Christ of all the good people we know. By our deeds we are known as friends of Christ. We read the Scriptures and get caught up in his story. We go to Eucharist so that his Body and Blood may be our body and blood. We call out to him in our needs and we let him minister to us by being one with our needs. The good news reaches John in his prison. The one that he was to prepare the way for is now one of us.

Action
 John is the greatest of the prophets of the Old Testament. But the least one born to the kingdom of God is greater than he because he could only point out Christ while we work at being Christ to our world. Christ born as the baby in his  birth as the child makes it easy to do the little tasks of our lives in a total way because we realize it is not what we are doing that is so significant but rather with how much love we do what we are doing. We too are given the responsibility of making Christ known. But we make him known by living his word to the best of our efforts. Christ will make up the difference for us by carrying out what we have begun with his inspirations. His divine assistance is the source of our joy in his closeness.

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