Two very famous figures are on my mind this morning. Both
have long beards and unusual wardrobes. The first, of course, is St. John the
Baptist, who appears in today’s Gospel, dressed in camel hair and proclaiming the
message already prophesied by Isaiah in our first reading.
The second is Santa Claus.
I wonder how many of our younger parishioners know
that Santa Claus is really St. Nicholas? Santa is just St. Nick with some extra
pounds from all the cookies and milk left for him on Christmas Eve.
Even the name of Santa Claus comes straight from his
Dutch name, Sinterklaas.
Long before children
received gifts at Christmas, they got their presents on the eve of the feast of
St. Nicholas, which just happens to be today, December 6. And in some
countries, such as Holland, this continues to the present day.
It reminds all of us,
young and old, that everything about Christmas has roots in our faith and that
we need to water those roots if we’re to experience fully the joys of the
season.
The opening prayer for
today’s Mass encourages us to stay clear of those things that obscure the real
meaning of Christmas. We prayed “may no earthly undertaking hinder those who
set out in haste” to meet the Son of God.
Of course, if we take
Advent seriously, we are a lot less likely to get mixed up about Christmas.
And this year, we might be just a little more open to a serious message since we’re not heading out to premature Christmas parties all through the season.
We often hear that
Christmas is for children, and certainly we all want to have a child-like
wonder before the infant Jesus laying in a manger. But we don’t want childish
attitudes to rob us of the power and purpose of the Advent season.
Both today’s first
reading and Gospel take us to a scary place—the wilderness. The wilderness, or
desert, is “a place of deprivation, loneliness, and stripping away of comfort”
(Mary Healy, The Gospel of Mark, p. 32). It’s easy to get lost in the
wilderness.
And “more than ever
this world is a wilderness.” Over thirty years ago the great theologian
Hans Urs von Balthasar wrote that this wilderness is growing—“artificially,
through the clearing of rain forests” and even more “spiritually, as the
religious landscape turns into a vast overgrown prairie where men can scarcely
hear the cry ‘Prepare the way of the Lord.’”
He says that John the
Baptist would have a much harder time of it today than two thousand years ago,
trying to make his voice heard amid the cacophony of the media and the secularist
agenda (Hans Urs von Balthasar, Light of the World, p. 151).
But even if the wilderness
is scary, even if the desert is taking over more and more territory that once was
fertile, the prophetic message is still lifegiving water for a parched generation.
Both Isaiah and John announce
the forgiveness of our sins, and with that an end to fear and hopelessness. Isaiah
promises Israel God’s compassion and tender care, despite her unfaithfulness.
This promise, of
course, is fulfilled by Jesus, whose name literally means “He who saves” and
whom we know as our Good Shepherd.
The message of today’s
Gospel is, very simply, “get ready.” Don’t walk around in circles in the dry land
of anxiety, don’t get lost in the thorny bushes of the wilderness of confusion.
Prepare for the coming of the Lord by walking away from sin.
Isaiah and John point
out a straight path for us. It’s the path of repentance and discipleship that
lead us to Jesus. It’s the way to the fullness of life, to the baptism with the
Holy Spirit that John promised his disciples and which Jesus promises us.
There was a time when Western
society was soaked in Christian culture. Customs and rituals, at home and at
church, helped people encounter Christ at Christmas. As I mentioned at the
beginning, even Christmas gifts have their origin in celebrating the memory of St.
Nicholas, a bishop and martyr renowned for his generosity.
These days every
parent, every priest, every teacher must work hard at recovering the truth and
meaning of Christmas for the younger generation as they wander the wilderness
of social media. We can take nothing for granted as society continues to drain
the spiritual riches out of this annual celebration.
There are many things
families can do, from Advent wreaths to Advent calendars. There’s the Christmas
novena, nine days of prayer leading up to the 25th of December. And we can use
the internet to learn about the glorious “O antiphons” connected to each of
those days. Last week's bulletin had other fine ideas.
But there’s one idea better
than any other: a good confession before Christmas.
Last weekend a father
and his young son walked together to church so that they could both go to
confession. The walk was five kilometers each way. How’s that for making a
straight path for the Lord? Or at least a path straight to the Lord!
Archbishop Miller has declared
next Saturday a “Day of Mercy” and asked parishes to make the sacrament of
penance easily available—because, of course, we can’t hold penitential services
this year.
Our plan at Christ the
Redeemer is simple: on Saturday Father Jeff and I are going to station ourselves
in safe spaces around the church at 10, 12, 2, 4, 6 and 8.
It’s a schedule I learned
in the seminary: we will hear confessions at those times for as long as people
come, then we will go back to the rectory. It allows maximum convenience for
parishioners without the priests spending a whole lot of time with no one there.
Although good St.
Nicholas takes a backseat to the Second Sunday of Advent this year, I want to
end by letting his long history with Christian children remind us of the challenges
young Christians face in the world today.
We owe our young people
the priceless gift that can’t be wrapped or delivered by Santa Clause—the gift
of faith. We can’t abandon them in the modern wilderness without water or a
map. And so, our parish helps our children and youth grow in faith in many ways,
in part through the largest youth ministry program on the North Shore.
Let’s take a moment now
to meet some of the young people who are such an important and hopeful part of
our parish family…
( Please watch the video here!)
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