What Are You Waiting
For? By Rev. Paul Berghout (@FatherPB)
Piety
The desert and the parched land will exult; the steppe
will rejoice and bloom. They will bloom with abundant flowers, and rejoice with
joyful song. The glory of Lebanon will be given to them, the splendor
of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the
glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God.
Isaiah 35:1-2
When John the Baptist heard in prison of the works of the
Christ, he sent his disciples to Jesus with this question, "Are you the
one who is to come, or should we look for another?" Jesus said to them in
reply, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their
sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and
the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who
takes no offense at me."
Matthew 11:2-11
Study
There is a story of
a Spiritual Master who went to China. There he gathered a group of disciples to
prepare them for enlightenment. When they became enlightened, they stopped
attending his lectures!
The moral of the
story: It is no credit to a spiritual guide that his disciples sit at his feet
forever!
Today is Gaudete
Sunday and the theme is about Spiritual Joy, which runs deeper than mere
'pleasure,' is more enduring than mere 'fun,' and is more intense and thrilling
than mere 'happiness.' Spiritual joy runs deep into the core of us and is
based on the possession of God and eternal life, and being set free, which is
supremely, even overpoweringly, beautiful.
Joy also comes from
serving the Lord.
In our Gospel today,
Jesus said: “The lame walk.” In Acts 3:6, a follower of Jesus says, “In the
name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”
Jesus said: “Lepers
are cleansed.” In Acts 9:6, a follower of Jesus says, “Jesus Christ heals you;
rise.”
Jesus said: “The
blind see.” Acts, 9:17 says, “The Lord Jesus...has sent me that you may regain
your sight.”
Jesus said, “The
dead are raised.” Acts 16:18 says a disciple freed a person walking dead, spiritually.
In all these cases,
they healed not by asking the Lord to heal, but by boldly exercising the
authority the Lord has already delegated them. You already have that delegation
in you by your Confirmation, so make an announcement or a command in Jesus’
name to free, heal or overcome some evil.
Jesus added:
“Blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”
Like, being Joyful
When Nothing Is Going Well: That is a part of Gaudete Sunday, too.
Things are not going
well for John the Baptist in today’s gospel. The first lines of today’s gospel
give us a hint: “From prison, John the Baptist heard of the works of Christ,
and had a question.”
But, what about us,
if we were John the Baptist’s cellmate? Would our doubts and fears be relieved
by God’s Word given to us in the Bible?
John got a clear
answer by Jesus in code since Jesus responded to his question with Isaiah
35:5-6, which everybody knew was a description of what the Messiah would do.
St. Augustine died
with an army of Arian Goths surrounding Hippo in what looked like the end of
Western Christian civilization. Beforehand, he reflected on that and wrote a
book about it. St. Thomas More was executed at a time when it looked like all
was lost for the Church in England, but he was connected to the universal
Catholic Church and the Pope in Rome. St. Maximillian Kolbe was killed when it
looked like German Fascism was going to triumph over Christianity in Europe,
but Our Lady already helped him and was with him and near him.
Action
Even the least saint
has the potential to be greater in Christ on this side of the Cross and
resurrection than on the front side during the Old Testament era.
In this season of
joy, consider that Jesus told St. Faustina:
It is not always within your power to control your feelings. You will
recognize that you have love if, after having experienced annoyance and
contradiction, you do not lose your peace but pray for those who have made you
suffer and wish them well (Diary, 1628).
Then, the desert and
the parched land will exult; the steppe will rejoice and bloom.
They will bloom with
abundant flowers and rejoice with joyful song.
Amen.
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