Christmas involves God and us

An ancient Christian Legend: When the son of God was nailed to the cross and died, he went down to hell and set all free. The devil wept and mourned, for he thought he would get no more sinners for hell. Then God said to him, “Do not weep, for I shall send you all those who are self-righteous in their condemnation of sinners and hell shall be filled up once more until I return.” Two weeks in a row we see John the Baptist taking the center stage in gospels, preparing the people for the Messiah. Last week we heard John’s voice in the wildness and this week, we concretely understand that voice. The voice makes sense today.

Everyone has a lesson to learn here: Common people were asked to share what they have with others; tax collectors were asked to be fair and honest, and soldiers were asked to be just. The biggest challenge for the Church today is the same question, ‘What should we do’? Quite often this question is changed or wrongly asked as ‘what should he or she or they do’? Many of us think it is heroic to pray for Osama and his conversion! It is highly fashionable to remember in prayers: “God! Give my husband a good heart. God! Give my wife an understanding spirit to lead my family! Yes. God! Thank you for creating me a Mister Perfect and a Mrs. Perfect.

God! US spends more defense than the rest of the world combined, we have 150 or more US installations all over. The quality of healthcare is 37^th in the world just above Slovenia. Yes, we should voice against where money comes and where it goes. That doesn’t hide your chaotic, selfish way of life where you don’t provide anything for your family and be selfish in all that you do! Lawyers make more than $ 400 an hour and cheat the system and people, yes, we should voice against it, but that doesn’t hide our own cheating behaviors. It is hard for us to accept, understand and forgive people who make our lives in day-to-day basis. What should I do – is the result of our ability to accept, understand, forgive and love.

Every Prophet and a person of God make this question mandatory for all disciples of Jesus: ‘What should I do now?’ John the Baptist symbolically explains how this question can take effect in us in a radical way. Sandals are normally removed by slaves and it’s the right of the slave to remove the sandals of their masters. It necessarily takes in a series of activities: waiting on the master’s arrival, walking towards the Master humbly and bowing down in adoration, kneeling and removing the sandals and washing the feet. It also carries the meaning of resting the feet of Jesus. Now let us ask the question again, ‘What should I do now’? This question is a question not asked by everyone, rather a question asked by a disciple, a servant of God.

How do I get rid of bad feelings in my heart about people who hurt me badly? How do I increase my level of patience in building up my family, in understanding my wife, husband, son, daughter and friends? How do I show my love to God who challenges me with so much pain in my life this year? Most of my Christmas cards to people this year carried this message: ‘May peace and joy be a main source of your Christmas celebration’. Christmas involves God and us. Let us put our whole efforts in asking ‘What should I do now?’ and answering it with love. Amen.

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City of Joy

Recent studies reveal that 45-55% of married women and 50-60% of married men engage in extramarital sex at some time or another during their relationship (Atwood & Schwartz, 2002 - Journal of Couple & Relationship Therapy). The recent flooding of news on Woods brought out a kind of worry in moral conduct of people! But this time the moral conduct is connected to the 5 million or 55 million business deal. Here we reflect ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths’. No wonder John the Baptist was far off in the wilderness and the Word came to him there!

Certainly the Greek architecture and the Roman civilization come in handy here that a city is being planned and built: both the 1^st and 3^rd readings today reveal that a lot of work is put in leveling ground, paving roads. JRS is preparing for a new king, the Messiah of a political nature. It is certainly a moment of great joy. Ironically enough no one was informed of this Messiah: Caesar, Pilate, Herod, Philip, and the 2 high priests were ignorant of his arrival, but preparation has to be done by a strange man who lives in the forest. All the planning has to necessarily start with a symbolic cleansing of a bath.

There are couples coming to see us at the rectory requesting baptism for their children. They have never seen me since they don’t come to church but they have to baptize their children to keep the tradition going! I almost always forget in asking them if they need the baptism of John the Baptist! The task of the Baptist is to bring people to God through baptism by water. The Gentiles wanting to become Jews had to be circumcised, had to fast and be cleansed in the Mikvah – ritual bath. John was also baptizing the Jews as the Jews though a covenantal people, were far from God like any other gentile and be reconverted.

CCC 1256 affirms that ‘in case of necessity, anyone, even a non-baptized person, with the required intention, can baptize’. This uncertainty in meaning caused a lot of damage to the Universal church. How many people were killed and nations waged war, temples desecrated, religions ridiculed thinking that ‘they were going to die unless they are baptized!’ That’s exactly what we don’t want to see in our Church – portraying Jesus as a political ruler with inhuman ideologies and rules that separate people and give a wrong signal to the world that we got everything and they have nothing!

Our baptisms have effect only if we live out our values not so much as just Christians but as good people. Christ was baptized to show us his humility that he will go through this process of John’s baptism is necessary to our Christian calling. Church teaches us that from His pierced side flowed blood and water through which are baptized and be born of water and the Spirit. But before that happens, we adhere to the person of John the Baptist and his call to repentance! If John the Baptist were to be a Catholic, he would have called all the baptized Catholics for a baptism of reconversion.

Let us work together in preparing the way of the Lord! In order to plan the City of Joy, we need to know what we have to start with. Every crooked ways, every mountains and hills, every winding roads, rough ways have to be cleared and be ready to welcome a little child eager to smile and play, hold our fingers and sleep peacefully at our manger! The Dawn of the City of Joy is at hand!

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