Second Sunday of Advent
Last week I mentioned that we began a new liturgical year with our beginning of the season of Advent. New years are both times to look forward, as well as times to look back. And looking back at our last liturgical year, it had its ups and downs for me. Now, I’m not usually a guy to share struggles; I don’t want my burdens to become the burdens of others. But, as the father of this parish community, I have to be vulnerable at times, as all parents do. It’s important for me to be a pillar of strength for you and with you, but sometimes even parents communicate the struggles.
As I said, last year had its ups and downs. There were some very good things that happened in my life (in no particular order): I continued to develop a good relationship with Powers Catholic High School, and boys and girls soccer both won State Championships; we had my first 8th grade graduation as pastor of St. Pius X Catholic School; I became a Michigan State Police Chaplain; I had my first Christmas and Easter here at St. Pius X, which is always a special time in the life of a priest; I have developed friendships here and strengthened others from elsewhere; I enjoyed a nice trip to Nashville and heard some great country music; I have welcomed new parishioners to St. Pius X, both by baptism and by transfers in.
But there were also challenges, both personally and professionally: I buried my first grandparent; I had the sad duty of attending the Line of Duty Death of a State Trooper and an Oakland County Deputy; I had five parishioner funerals in 15 days (last year was apparently a year for funerals); our parish Mass attendance continued to shrink, mirroring trends across our diocese; we currently have a number of parishioners who have very serious illnesses and who are in hospice care; collections continue to be lower, which stifles the amount of ministry we can do as a parish; some parishioners, for a variety of reasons, continue to move to other parishes, and even with a majority of the ones that come to mind being because of changing residence or changing health, I still feel the pain, as I know you do. The challenges seem to pile up faster than the joys.
Now, I don’t bring these up to make you feel bad for me, or for yourselves. I persevere by the grace of God, who increases my joys and lessens my sorrows. And certainly all those challenges are precisely challenges because of my love: for my biological family, my blue family (law enforcement, not Smurfs), and especially for my parish family. If I didn’t love you, and all the others, I wouldn’t feel the pain that comes from those challenges.
But I bring these up because it is easy to get discouraged with those challenges, but God does not want us to despair. Advent is precisely the season of hope, and the main character of our first reading and Gospel, St. John the Baptist, is precisely a prophet of hope. Isaiah tells us that God wants to give us comfort, and St. John the Baptist shows us how.
Things weren’t great in the time of St. John the Baptist. Israel was under foreign occupation by the Romans. Herod, not the one who tried to kill baby Jesus, but another Herod, was a puppet king who was no winner, either. There were religious sects that didn’t associate with each other for various reasons. And few seemed to have much hope that things were going to get better. And the ones who did think things were going to get better, were convinced it had to happen by a violent, military uprising. Now those are some challenges.
In the midst of all this, St. John the Baptist points out Jesus. We don’t quite hear that today in the Gospel, but we do hear about John preparing a way for Jesus, so that when Jesus did appear, John could point Him out. And that is the key for us today: we need to point to Jesus. In the midst of all our challenges, for me, for the parish, for you as individuals and families, we need to point out Jesus.
Is Jesus going to take all our troubles away? Not on this side of eternity. Ask John: he was beheaded because of the dance of a pretty girl. But the challenge with challenges is that they can demand our attention, demand our focus, and can become all-consuming. Before long, the darkness surrounds us, and it seems like life is nothing but a challenge, and we can despair, we can lose hope. But when we point to Jesus, we point to the light, and we direct our attention to the greatest thing we have: God who loves us, God-with-us, Emmanuel. Instead of darkness, the light increases, and while the challenges still remain, they are not overwhelming.
No matter what my challenges; no matter what our parish challenges; no matter what your personal and family challenges are, allow me to point you to Jesus. Allow me to lead you in focusing on the Lamb of God, who fills us with the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. And if you feel like Jesus has helped you to escape the darkness of despair and brought you into the light of hope, then be a John the Baptist with me. Point out Jesus to those you live with, work with, and play with, so that they, too, can see the light.
There is only one Person who knows what this new liturgical year holds for me and for us: and that Person is Jesus. He is the Lord of all, and everything is in His care, and nothing happens that He does not allow for our holiness. Focus on Him; focus on Jesus, the one who brings comfort to His People. Be like St. John the Baptist: point out the Lamb of God.
