2nd Sunday of Advent - Hear the Message - Be the Messenger

The other night, the Confirmation 2 teens and I were together to talk about vocations and answer questions. One question I posed to them was what were their own questions about Life, the Universe and everything in it as a 4 to 6 year old. Can any of you remember what questions you had at that age?  I brought that up because when I was that age there were two questions and one concern. They were: Why were there no volcanoes in Ohio? Would the hill in our little town disappear before I had a chance to ride down it on my bike? And how did the Body of Christ fit in the tabernacle?  Geology and Theology questions: I think there was a message there.

Name for ourselves all the messengers in our life; that pointed us in the direction we needed to go. Name for ourselves especially those messengers in our life that point us in the direction to a deeper understanding of God, and the consequently a deeper understanding of ourselves.  The cliche is that God works in mysterious ways seemingly applies I bet.

There are people, both living and dead, who have come into our lives who helped us to find a new direction.  Parents and Grandparents, siblings and friends, authors, poets, Saints, artists, activists, therapists…

Maybe the message was not always what we wanted to hear, but with hindsight it was what we needed.  Maybe the message seemed harsh to us, but in the end, it helped us to be more free.  Perhaps the message seemed too easy, yet that easiness, that comfort, opened us to a better way of understanding Jesus Christ and his Paschal Mystery, one which we have overcomplicated.

John the Baptist, the messenger, pointed to Christ. His ministry, his baptism were not the ends, but a means to open people to the Greatest of all messengers to come, Jesus Christ.   John symbolized a long line of prophets. People who were not predicting a particular moment, but whose own message was to open up the minds and hearts of people to the greater reality of God.

Isaiah in the first reading, to a people in exile, called for Israel to be open, to see in God in a different way, a God present even in their exile in a foreign land. Isaiah told them that “God who will take you home, but a home that will be different than the past.”

Who has been the prophets to us, trying to help us see and think, and therefore act differently?  Who showed us how forgiveness frees us from the anger that we carry?  Or how humility can do the same?  Or how Christ dying on the Cross freed us, and we are called to give of ourselves too, for the good of others.

To be honest, at the time we probably did not recognize them as such, but looking back, we see that small but so impactful piece of advice, that bit of wisdom that just tweaked us enough.  And of course there will may be those persons who were so blatantly telling us what to do! Because, if like me stubborn and/or in denial, it takes a blow across the bow to get the attention.

Then again...we also are called to be prophets, messengers to those around us, to our youth and young persons. Are we doing so?  What message, what direction are we providing?

This is part of our baptisms: to live the faith and give direction by the example of our lives to those who search, those in need, those who look for life.  

Advent, a time of preparation to celebrate that renewal of birth within us of the Christ, the Child of God that we are; signified by Jesus Christ.  A time maybe to reflect on how we can grow in our own prophetic role to the world around us.  Maybe instead of the constant complaining and griping about the situation, we work to be part of the solution.  Maybe we point to Christ, through our patience, through our advocacy for those in need; through showing mercy, forgiveness, respect for all life…  Maybe we point to Christ through looking for and offering hope to others.

Maybe we be “the messenger” and the message.