Second Sunday of Advent
From
time to time, surfing through the channels on the TV, I’ll see a worship
service for a mega-church, or a televangelist ministry. Most times I skip over them, but every
once in a while I stop and listen to what is being said. Because we share faith in Jesus Christ,
a lot of what is said is very familiar and is consistent with what the Church
teaches. However, there are some
that preach what’s called the “Gospel of Prosperity,” that is, if you tithe 10%
of your adjusted gross income, and you come to Church, and you do all these
different things, you’ll never have to worry about money, a house, family
problems, etc. It’s easy to see
why people are drawn to that message: who wouldn’t want all the good things
that this earth has to offer? But
often, those who are truly striving to live out their faith do have to struggle
with a lot of issues, whether of money, or health, or family. Our view, then, as Catholics, is not
quite the same as those who preach the Gospel of Prosperity.
However,
the Word of God tells us today, and we certainly believe, that God wants the
best for us. God doesn’t just want
a mediocre life for us, floating along with some good stuff, and some bad
stuff. God wants the best for
us. But God’s beneficence, His
over-flowing goodness, is not limited to the things of this earth. In fact, the things of this world often
get in the way of truly drawing closer to God, though this is not always the
case.
Today
in our first reading, the Prophet Baruch proclaims to us that God wants to do
us good! He wants us to take off
our robes of mourning and misery, and put on the garment of rejoicing, the
cloak of justice. God wants the
best for us, and He is going to make that best thing possible. He is going to level the mountains for
us so that we don’t have to climb, and he’s going to fill in the valleys for us
so that the way is not hard. He
will lead us in joy “by the light of his glory, with his mercy and
justice.” Where is this path
leading us, this level path? This
path is the path to the best things in life, which is not a thing at all, but a
Person, a Communion of Persons, a Trinity of Persons, God Himself. The best of all is God, and He wants to
give us Himself. That is why we
pray and wait during this Advent season, to recall the moment when we could see
the face of God in Jesus, and to get ready for that time when Jesus will come
again, not as a little baby, but in all His glory in majesty.
But,
because we have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God, as St. Paul says in
his letter to the Romans, we need guides.
Sometimes we can see the path and we’re ready to start walking. Other times we lose sight of where we
should be going, and we need a person to show us the way. That’s where our Gospel comes in.
St.
Luke tells us about the ultimate trail guide of all time, St. John the
Baptist. He came to prepare the
way of the Lord. He came to show
the straight path, to announce that the valleys have been filled in and the
mountains have been made low, and the rough ways have been made smooth so that
all people can see the salvation of God.
He’s there to point out the way, to announce it, and to prepare people
to make that journey to true prosperity with God, the prosperity, the
blessedness, of the saints. St.
John the Baptist preaches repentance, the way to see the path, to recognize
Jesus who is Himself the Way. He
is the one who points to Jesus, when He comes, and says, “Behold the Lamb of
God! Behold him who takes away the
sins of the world!” Because of
this, Jesus says of him that of those born from women, there is none greater
than John the Baptist.
And
yet, Jesus also says that the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than
St. John the Baptist. How can this
be? How can we be greater than the
Precursor of the Lord? Well, we,
too, are called to point out the Lamb of God. We, too, are called to help others find that path to true
blessedness, the path that leads to God.
Under the guidance of Holy Mother Church, who tenderly and firmly helps
us to understand what God has revealed through Jesus Christ in the power of the
Holy Spirit, we are called to point out to others the way to true
happiness. Sometimes it happens by
correction, or advice to avoid this or do that, whether it be with a family
member, a co-worker, a friend, or whomever. Other times it is simply by the joy and peace that we
display as we conform our lives, not to this age and its opinions, but to the
enduring Word of God, which is the same yesterday, today, and forever, even as
it is applied in new ways to ever-changing circumstances. We, like St. John the Baptist and (dare
I say) the Blues Brothers, are on a mission from God, to help others find that
straight, level path to God.
Sometimes
it will mean prosperity for us.
There are certainly many people to whom God gives many blessings, and
invites them to share those blessings with others. Other times, those closest to God are the ones who suffer
the most, like Job, the apostles, the saints who were martyred, saints who put
up with great trials like St. Kateri, St. Damien of Molokai, Bl. Teresa of
Calcutta. Some people very easily
understand the loving and cheeky words of St. Teresa of Avila, “Lord, if this
is how you treat your friends, no wonder you have so few of them!” But, whether, by the standards of this
world, we are blessed or cursed, what truly matters is that we are prospering
in drawing closer to God and following His will in all things, so that we can
follow along the straight and level path to God, which will give us the desire
of every heart, and the best thing that there is: communion with the Blessed
Trinity itself.
