John the Baptist:"Repent! Change Your Minds!"

The second candle of Advent

John the Baptist: “Repent! Change Your Minds!”
December 5, 2010 2nd Sunday of Advent
Is 11:1-2, 5-8, 10 Romans 15:4-9 Matthew 3:1-6

First Reading

Then a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,
and from his roots a bud shall blossom. [1]

The spirit of the LORD shall give Him wisdom,
and the knowledge and skill to rule His people.
He will judge the poor fairly and defend the rights of the helpless.
He will rule His people with justice and integrity.
Then the wolves and sheep shall live together in peace,
leopards and goats will share the same lairs.
Calves and lion cubs will feed together
and little children shall take care of them.
Cows and bears shall eat together,
and their calves and cubs shall lie down in peace.
Lions shall eat straw as cattle do.
Even a baby will not be harmed, as it plays near a poisonous snake.
A day is coming when the shoot sprung from the stump of Jesse
will be a rallying banner raised on high for Gentiles.

The Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Alleluia, alleluia.

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew.
Glory to you, Lord.

At that time John the Baptist came and started preaching in the desert of Judea: “Repent, Change your minds and hearts, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” John was the one about whom the prophet Isaiah was talking, when he said:

Someone is shouting out in the desert,
“Get ready a road for the Lord. Clear the path before Him.
Fill in the valleys, and level off the hills and mountains.
Straighten out the curves, and make the rough ways smooth.
Then all mankind shall see God’s salvation.” [2]

John wore clothing made of camel’s hair and had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. At that time Jerusalem, all Judea and the whole region around the Jordan were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins.

The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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Introduction
John – the Advent figure par excellence

The Second Sunday of Advent (whether the gospel reading is from Cycle A, B or C) always features the Advent figure par excellence: John the Baptist. He is sent to level off the mountains, fill in the valleys and straighten out the winding trails, in order to facilitate and hasten the Lord’s coming.

Good imagery

There is good imagery in today’s gospel; it suggests the preparation made for a visit from royalty in the ancient world. Preceding a visit from a Pharaoh of Egypt, teams of workers were sent out to put the roads in shape, which at times dwindled down to mere trails cluttered by fallen trees and rolling stones. There were potholes to be mended and bridges to be repaired. There were sharp curves to be straightened and hills to be leveled. There was litter to be cleared away, so that the litter carrying the Pharaoh might move with dispatch.

When the Council of Nicea was held in 360 A.D. near Istanbul Turkey, bishops from Ireland attended. How did they get from Ireland to Turkey? They walked! It took them almost a year to arrive because there weren’t any trains or planes in those days, nor were there any bulldozers to level off the mountains and fill up the valleys. Naturally the bishops stayed for eight or nine months, once they got there, conversing with other bishops and theologians from across the continent. We who today travel in fine automobiles over perfectly paved super-highways appreciate the imagery of this second Sunday of Advent.

A Capuchin missionary also appreciates the imagery. Today’s gospel, he writes, reminds him of his tour of duty in Nicaragua: “The people who awaited us missionaries to arrive at their little chapel would always clean the path a mile before their chapel. Then they would send a mounted delegation to meet us. With firecrackers, they would make my mule or horse run that last block. By then my rear-end was really very sore from the five or six hour trip, and I found it very hard to keep a serious smile on my face as the people reached up to grab my hand. That always comes to mind when I read the gospel for the second Sunday of Advent.”

Delaying the day of His coming

In Early Advent, the first readings at Mass are from the prophet Isaiah, and they abound with a litany of promises: “In those days, they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. “(Is 2: 4) “He shall judge the poor fairly and defend the rights of the helpless. He shall rule His people with justice and integrity. (Is 11:4-5) “He shall take care of His flock like a shepherd; He shall gather the lambs together and carry them in His arms.” (Is 40: 11) Etc.

That litany of promises of Early Advent builds up to an impatience which cries out, “Oh you heavens, stop your delaying! Hurry up and rain down the Just One!"[3] (Is 45:8)

And in Late Advent (also called the Novena of Christmas) the O Antiphon at Vespers for Dec.19 is particularly impatient:”Oh Shoot sprouted from the stump of Jesse, hurry up to save us! Stop your delaying!” [4]

A rabbi, with thoughts of the Holocaust burnt into his soul, knows what delays the Messiah. He writes,

I often kid my synagogue that I visualize the Messiah about to be sent down to the world by G-d, but looking at all the violence, hatred, inhumanity, especially in the name of religion, the Messiah begs G-d to delay sending Him down to this world of ours. If more people in the world were filled with love and compassion and tolerance, we would hasten the day of His coming.

Repenting – changing one’s mind

On this second Sunday of Advent the Baptist calls us “to repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The Greek word for repent is metanoein -- to change one’s mind. The call to repent is a call to change one’s mind and heart about things.

If anyone is called to repent (to change one’s mind about things) first and foremost it is the Church. Once she has obeyed her Lord’s command to repent then she can effectively summon the faithful to repent – to change their minds about things. When it comes to repentance the Church must lead the way. How strange is the boast that’s sometimes heard about “an infallible Church which never needs to change its mind.”

Fr. Boulad – a voice crying in the desert

Father Henri Boulad S J, 79 years young, has an impressive resume: He is rector of the Jesuit school in Cairo. He was superior of the Jesuits in Alexandria, regional superior of the Jesuits in Egypt, professor of theology in El Cairo, and vice president of Caritas International for the Middle East and North Africa. He has given conferences throughout Europe, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, France, Belgium, etc. He has visited 50 countries on 4 continents and has published some 30 books in 15 languages—mainly in French, Arabic, Hungarian, and German. So greatly pedigreed, he obviously isn’t a fly-by-night, and we can presume that his words are worth heeding.

In a personal lengthy letter to Pope Benedict, circulated worldwide in January of 2010, Fr. Boulad calls his Church to repent – to change her mind about many things. His letter in part reads:

In the matter of morality and ethics, the injunctions of the Magisterium, repeated ad nauseam on marriage, contraception, abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality, clerical celibacy, divorce and remarriage, etc. touch nobody and only engender weariness and indifference. All these moral and pastoral problems deserve more than preemptory declarations. They deserve an approach that is pastoral, sociological, psychological and humane.

Bishop Untener – a voice crying in the desert

Bishop Kenneth Edward Untener (1937- 2004) served the

Diocese of Saginaw from 1980 until his death in 2004. He was a very good shepherd for the people of the Saginaw diocese. He was also a great comfort for his priests and a challenge to his fellow bishops. He sold the bishop's mansion and proceeded to live in 69 rectories over the next 24 years. People said his office was the trunk of his car. His first words as bishop to the people of Saginaw were: "My name is Ken, and I will be your waiter for a long, long time.” His funeral Mass, attended by some 1,800 people, evoked tears and laughter, audible "amens" and a standing ovation.

1993 was the twenty-fifth anniversary of Pope Paul VI's encyclical letter Humanae Vitae (which reaffirmed the Church's stand against artificial birth control). Bishop Untener used the occasion to keep his promise to be a “waiter” serving his people; he invited his Church to reopen the discussion on birth control, and to do it honestly and openly. At heart, Untener was inviting the Church to repent – to change her mind about birth control, if that’s what an honest and open discussion on the subject called for. His invitation to reopen the discussion, however, quietly displeased the Vatican.

There were many other issues in which Bishop Untener kept his promised to be a “waiter” serving his people. On the issue of divorce, he said, “I am not here to condemn divorced people, nor am I here to condone them. I am here to help them. Jesus did not come to condemn or condone the woman caught in adultery; He came to help her.”

Conclusion
Challenging an` infallible’ Church

Untener’s office was the trunk of his car. His name was “Ken,” and like Jesus at the Last Supper, he girded himself with a towel and proceeded to be a ”waiter” in the Church of Saginaw. He was a good John the Baptist, filling in valleys and leveling off mountains, in order to make it easier for the Lord to come to his people. He was a good prophet speaking truth to power. In a calm and dignified manner he challenged an `infallible’ Church to do what, by definition, an `infallible’ Church cannot do: repent and change its mind.

[1] A freer translation reads, The royal line of David is like a tree that has been cut down; just as new shoots sprout from its stump, so a new king will arise from among David’s descendants.
[2] Isaiah 40:3
[3] Rorate caeli desuper, et nubes pluant Justum
[4] O Radix Jesse, veni ad salvandum nos. Iam noli tardare! (O Antiphon for Dec. 19)