Experiencing God 248 - Living Our Beliefs

Today we celebrate the third Sunday of Advent, a half way point. As part of my own Advent journey, I’ve been following Matthew Kelly’s “Best Advent Ever”. Each morning, I receive an e-mail, with a short video of Matthew Kelly’s advent reflection. This week, he presented a question in his video for personal reflection. He asked: “Are you happy with the way the world is going?  And if you are not, then what can you do about it? How can you keep from becoming discouraged by all you don’t like?” It’s a big question for sure, and worthy of some reflection.

In respect to this question, there’s a story about Mahatma Gandhi that has always intrigued me. During the early years of Gandhi’s active but peaceful resistance against the injustices he saw in India, he began to gain some attention from the press. Journalists around the world began to wonder what he was all about, what motivated him to respond to the injustices he saw. During one of his press interviews, a reporter asked him: What do you believe? Which creed do you follow? Gandhi’s response was very revealing. He said “If you really want to know what I believe, then look at the way I live.” Then he went on to say: “Be the change that you want to see in the world."  

What Gandhi is saying from this statement, at least for me, is that I can recite a creed, I can follow a belief system or religion, I can know the dogma particular to my belief, but the truth of who I am and what I believe can really only be found in the way I live my life. When I see an injustice, something that requires change, then my life, my passion, and my energy can be found there.

In the gospel reading we’ve just heard from Matthew, John the Baptist is in prison. And we know why he is there. He has offended Herod son, Philip and Herodias who were in an improper relationship.

His honesty to them about their relationship has landed him in a prison cell. While there, in all probability, he has been kept abreast of what is happening in Jesus’ ministry.

As we heard in last week’s Gospel, John had previously declared that Jesus was the one who was coming to fulfill the Old Testament prophecies. He boldly proclaimed Him as the one more powerful than himself, that he was not worthy even to carry his sandals. But now he seems to have some doubts, some confusion at what has happened. Because of this, he sends a messenger to Jesus to ask: “Are you the Christ? Are you the expected Messiah, or are we to wait for someone else?” And of course we know how Jesus responded to John’s messenger. “Go back and tell John what you have seen, and what you have heard. The blind see again, the lame walk, the deaf hear, lepers are cleansed, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.” In other words, “the truth of who I am, the messiah, can be found in the way I live. I am that change I want to see in the world.”

So how can this apply to us today?

We are not Jesus; we are not even Ghandi; but through the uniqueness of our own experience in this life; through our uniqueness as people living out our Christian lives, we can be or at least become that change that we want to see in the world around us. How can we do this? By using our lives, our passions our energies to inspire and create change where we see that it is necessary.

If we see a need for more peace in the world, then we must first become that peace within ourselves. We must let go of our own hostilities, our own fears, our own envies and our own greed. Then we can offer, even to those who may appear to be our enemies, the peace and acceptance that has the ability to heal. If we see a need for the world to be less compulsive and less addictive, then we first let go of our own compulsiveness, our own addictions. Then we can be that assistance others need in seeking their own freedom. If we see the need for more music and joy in the world, then become that music, become that joy to be heard and experienced in places where it may not exist. If our concern centres around the importance of family life, then be that best husband and father, be that best wife and mother. If the world needs to be more hospitable, then be hospitable to all that you meet. In this way the good news given to us through our Christian heritage can be alive and active. It can bear fruit in our own lives and in the lives we touch. It can become a leaven that will enable people to see that truly the Kingdom of God is at hand. Is this not in essence the mission of our church?

In our Christian lives today, we seem to be struggling with two perceptions of church. One perception is given to us from the media, in our news broadcasts on TV, and in our newspapers. It is a perception of church that has to do with power, often manipulation and abuse, underlining agendas; a church of “Do as I say, but not as I do”. This is not a perception I am drawn too. In fact I find it quite deadly and discouraging.

But there is another perception of church, for me the real church, that is more evident, and we don’t have to look too far to see it. In fact, I see it in so many places right here at St. Mother Teresa: In the Catholic Women’s League and the Knights of Columbus and the service they render to this community; in the St. Vincent de Paul Society and their outreach of those in need; to all those involved in our programs of sacramental preparation, catechetics, pastoral care and our liturgies of worship.

These are all signs of a church that discovers its identity, not through a reciting a creed, but through the way it chooses to live; to be that witness of Christ to the world. It’s the church that Jesus proclaimed to John’s messenger: “Tell John what you see and what you hear. The blind can see again, the lame walk, the deaf hear, and lepers are cleansed, and the good news is proclaimed.”

It’s the church that Isaiah proclaims in our first reading: “Here is your God”, he says. God will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped.”

It’s the church that St. James speaks about in our second reading where he tells us to wait for it with the patience of a farmer waiting for his precious crop to grow from the earth.

Matthew Kelly in his advent video says that, as Catholic Christians, we are not afraid to affirm our beliefs. Together we share that belief through the professing of our creed, but that is only one side of the coin. Our true identity as Catholic Christians will only be found as we live our beliefs,walk in our beliefs, become occupied in our beliefs. This is why people like St. Mother Teresa leave such an impression upon us. They are not discouraged or become immobilized by things in the world they do not like; but they become that change they want to see in the world.

Advent is our season of waiting; waiting for the coming of the messiah: not only in the Christmas festivities that we will all celebrate on the 25th, but in hearts open to receive Him, in lives that are changed by Him. Let us pray for that change in our own hearts, in our own lives, so as to be that visible presence of Christ in the world, to be sources of healing and peace to all those who may need it.

Experiencing God 247 Advent

Today, we begin a new liturgical year.  In the Catholic Church, the first Sunday of Advent is the beginning of a new cycle of readings at our masses, a new cycle of holy days and holidays for roughly the next 365 days.  It’s also the time of year that we are not only called to prepare our hearts for the coming of Jesus at Christmas, but also to examine our own lives; spiritually speaking to take stock of where we are in respect to our faith.   The readings we have just heard are very conducive for this very purpose.  The theme of these readings is very obvious to all of us.  As St. Paul tells us quite bluntly: “Brothers and Sisters, you know what time it is. It is now the moment for us to wake from our sleep.”  And as Jesus says in the Gospel of Matthew: “Keep awake, therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming”. Stay alert, keep awake, be vigilant How does that apply to us this first week of Advent?

Whenever I hear these particular readings about being awake, the story that comes to my mind is the “Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens. 

We all know the story well since the movie version is played every year on our TV screens during the Advent season.  Ebenezer Scrooge may be physically awake, but in many other ways he is very much asleep.  Caught up in greed and his distorted perception of success, he is asleep to most things that are important for spiritual health and well-being.  He is driven by his incessant need to accumulate more and more until that moment when Spirit of Christmas future reveals to him the destiny he has created for himself.  And that destiny is a lonely death, an unkempt grave, and the loss of everything that he thought was so important.  And of course, this experience of coming face to face with his own death awakens him to see how much of his whole life has been spent as a prisoner to his own greed. But he has time to change and change he did.  He amends his ways, and moves his life forward in a whole new direction. 

In this story, Dickens greatly exaggerates the contrasts between Scrooge before and Scrooge after to make his point, which he does very well.  Certainly, none of us here falls within the extremes of Scrooge’s selfishness and greed.  But if we are completely honest with ourselves, and reflect carefully on our own lives, we may discover a bit of ourselves in this person of Scrooge; perhaps even that part that often forgets what is really important for our spiritual life as we get caught up in the business of ordinary living. 

This, I believe, is the message that Jesus is trying to convey to his disciples and to us in today’s Gospel. 

 “As the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.  For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away. So too will be the coming of the Son of Man.  Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.”

As we ponder the season of Advent, we can discover that the Lord comes to us quite unexpectedly in three different ways.  As I mentioned before, Advent is principally the time of year that we are called to prepare our hearts for the coming of Jesus at Christmas.  We engage in and celebrate the birth of Jesus, not only with our family and friends, but also as a faith community.  Here Jesus is revealed as an infant, fragile, humble and poor, born in a stable in Bethlehem. 
 
The second way he comes to us is the way portrayed in today’s Gospel or St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, often referred to as the “end times”, which could also be our own “end time”. It is here that Jesus comes in glory, with strength and victory.  St. Paul tells the Romans: “Salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near.” To be awake is to be aware and prepared as much as we can be for this coming of Christ.

But thirdly, Advent is also that time when we prepare for the coming of Christ in this present moment, to be transformed by His Presence on a daily basis through our prayer, through our participation in the sacraments where He is made visible to us.  It is here that we discover that he comes to comfort those afflicted: Those who may have lost a loved one, those who may be suffering from an illness.  And like Scrooge, it is here as well, in our present time, that we discover he comes also to afflict the comfortable: To remind us that some of our decisions, our way of life may be destructive to our spiritual well-being, that some of our priorities are mixed up.   It is during these times, we can ask ourselves:  Are there areas in my relationships with others; with my spouse, with my children, with my co-workers and friends that need to be changed in some way?  Are there areas in my own life, in my relationship with Christ, in my connection with Church, that need to be enhanced or reprioritized? It is here, in the now, that we are able to discover that Advent is not so much about all the busyness that arises at this time of the year, but it is about rediscovering the Christ who dwells among us, who dwells within us.  And through this indwelling presence, we are able to awaken and see possibilities that come through our faith. We begin to see that the Kingdom of God expresses itself in our acts of generosity towards others, of patience and understanding, in honest and unselfish service, and in the thousands of ways where people are striving and committing their lives for justice and peace.

Isaiah expresses this so vividly in our first reading as he describes a vision which is meant to capture our hearts and give us that hope we all need to live fully in God’s Presence.  “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.  Where swords will be beat into ploughshares, and spears into pruning hooks, and nation will not life sword against nation.”  It is quite evident that we cannot accomplish this on our own.  It will only come as we invite Jesus into our lives and hearts now, as we turn to God and set our focus on His ways, His truths, and live that as best we can in our own lives now.

In the song, The summons, we hear:

Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?
Will you go where you don’t know and never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown?  Will you let my name be known?
Will you let my life be grown in you and you in me?