Today's Ornament of Grace for Sunday of the second week of Advent is St. John the Baptist.
from Matthew 3:1-12
“Reform your lives! The reign of God is at hand… John was clothed in a garment of camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist. Grasshoppers and wild honey were his food…When he saw that many of the Pharisees and Sadducees were stepping forward for this bath, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who told you to flee from the wrath to come? Give some evidence that you mean to reform…”
John the Baptist, the wild looking cousin of Jesus, attracted many to the desert. Sincere people came from all over to hear him speak with authority and truth, a clear truth that cut through to their hearts and made them want to change their ways. Others came just to make a show of repentance in order to impress the many sincere people who sought the Messiah. But John called all to repent and be baptized, and he spoke fearlessly.
Many of the Pharisees and Sadducees were among those who went to be baptized for appearances. John, seeing their hearts, was unafraid to challenge them. He asked them to provide proof that they really wanted to change their ways. He told them to quit relying on the fact that they were children of Abraham to secure their salvation. This is a lesson for those of us who sometimes rely on things other than a change of heart and action to open ourselves to saving grace.
Our religious education, our holy parents, grandparents, siblings or children cannot secure our redemption. Big donations do not bring us salvation. Showing up for Mass on Sunday, teaching, preaching, or saying prayers without heart are not the way to eternal life. According to John, if we do not repent and truly change, then nothing else really matters. For the record, Jesus said the same thing.
Advent is a great time to listen to John the Baptist. He was pointing the way to Jesus. That was his mission, and he was totally focused on it. He was not pointing the way to the birth of Jesus because Jesus was already an adult when John appeared on the scene. John pointed to the Messiah, as Jesus ministered by showing compassion.
John brings hope when he says that Jesus will baptize not with water, but with the Holy Spirit and with fire. This can give us all, even the Pharisees and Sadducees among us, great hope. When we are baptized, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, who shares with us the power we need to change. We cannot change by ourselves. Jesus and John understood this.
Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to give us the strength and gifts we need to do the will of God, no matter how difficult that may be for us. One of the gifts of salvation is to share in the very life of God through Baptism and the other sacraments. The only requirement is that we welcome this grace, that we really want to change and do all we can to cooperate with God’s plan for us. We cannot fake goodness; it has to come from the heart or it is nothing at all.
John the Baptist lived without fear. He was so bold that he did not hesitate to call King Herod Antipas to repentance. Herod threw John into prison. Herod’s illegal wife Herodias schemed so that a drunken Herod would have the Baptist beheaded. But John stood strong until the end of his earthly life, and he still calls us to do the same.
OBSERVING THE BEAUTIFUL ORNAMENTS
How can we repent sincerely and focus fearlessly on pointing the way to the Lord?
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