3rd Sunday of Advent
St Mary's Cathedral
Isaiah 35:1-6,10 James 5:7-10 Mt 11:2-11
+ Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney
16 Dec 2001
Apparently in many Jewish circles there was an air of expectancy, or at least an openness to a visitation from God; to a further development in religious understanding.
How might Jesus have answered? With a simple affirmative? With detailed argumentation from the Jewish scriptures (What we call the Old Testament)?
While his answer was steeped in Old Testament imagery as we heard in the first reading, he told the messengers to let John draw his own conclusions from the fact that the blind see again, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life – and perhaps most important of all, the Good News is proclaimed to the poor. He then added, somewhat enigmatically "happy the man who does not lose faith in me".
I think Jesus' list is less of a reference to his miracles (and they do refer to those wonders) than to the contributions to human well-being which his teaching and activity brought with them.
There is a message here for us. In many parts of the world eg: Indonesia, where the Catholics are the fastest growing religious community, there are many converts to Catholicism. In Australia, we have a small but steady stream; many of them through the RCIA programme. But over 200 years we Catholics in Australia have not been noted for the number of converts joining the Church.
There are many reasons for this; Australia was divided by historical animosities between Catholic Irish and Protestant English, and partly along class lines too. Prejudice was often mutual and strong.
Times have now changed. Prejudices among Christians have diminished, a fifth of the population of Australia claims to belong to no religion and an increasing minority are searching for answers.
Do we believe we have something to offer them; in fact the truth about life? What would we say if friends asked us " Are you the people with the answer, the key to the riddle of life? Can we trust what you say about suffering, death and the afterlife?"
According to legend, St Francis of Assisi was once asked about the importance of preaching. "Yes" he replied, "it is important. And sometimes you must use words."
Could we say to our imaginary questioners, "Just look at our Catholic community. We run good schools, where children are well-taught and cared for. We have good hospitals, where patients are not just clients, but nursed as though they were Christ himself. Catholics believe in children; are optimistic enough to bring them into the world and care for them. They value family life and struggle to make their marriages last and work. They do not believe in abortion or euthanasia. Their children might experiment with drugs, but do not get caught there permanently in big numbers. They have fine St Vincent de Paul groups in nearly every parish, serving the poor and down and out."
There is much truth in the list of claims I have just announced – but there is considerable exaggeration too, although the correlation between regular Church practice today and strong family values is very high.
Jesus' teaching is good news and when Christians live out his teachings, people want to join us. Genuine Christianity is contagious. Good example is powerful and attractive, a consequence of living the good news.
Our Lord's message is no guarantee of worldly success, as is clear from his word's about John the Baptist. What was John the Baptist like when he was preaching repentance in the desert? A reed swaying in the breeze? No. Someone wearing fine clothes? No; such are found in palaces.
More than fifty years ago I went by boat with my family from Melbourne to Perth to visit my grandmother. En route my mother urged me to get the signature of an important lawyer for my autograph book. I cannot remember his name, but I remember what he wrote, "Born in castles or cottages, the greatest was born in a stable". That is one of the lessons of Christmas.
A final and different message to conclude.
Advent is a time for a spiritual spring-clean; for individual confession in the sacrament of penance. The certainty of forgiveness through the sacrament is one of Catholicism's first gifts. Personal confession can be hard for some of us, but it is one guarantee of sincerity and sorrow (not foolproof) and a personal ritual which is vital in ridding ourselves of the burden of guilt. To believe in God's forgiveness requires faith; because we often need patience to cope with our weakness and sometimes people are much harder on themselves than God is. The sacrament of penance helps this.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
