Frackville

The word “repent”, which we heard in today’s Gospel, is derived from the Greek word metanoia, which means a change of heart, seeing things differently, a new direction, a fresh beginning. The Gospel writers tell us that it was after John the Baptist had been arrested that Jesus began His mission with the message, “Repent, and believe the Good News.” Jesus prepared for this by spending time in the wilderness, where he was, in Mark’s words, “tempted by Satan”. Our first two readings use images relating to water to convey the idea of a new start. The covenant between God and Noah, made after the great flood, is symbolized by the rainbow, which is itself caused by light refracting through water droplets. Through the water of baptism, referred to by Peter in his letter, we are saved by a pledge “made to God from a good conscience”, not from fear. This is the repentance, the change of direction, which Jesus preached – going forward with joy, knowing that the Lord is with us.

Epic stories of a great flood are found in the mythologies of many ancient peoples, and the writers of the book of Genesis took these narratives into their own context in order to make sense of the world in which they lived. In his first letter, Peter sees the Noah story through a new lens, the lens of Jesus as the beloved Son of God, the central figure of the new covenant. We may be far away in both distance and time from that crowd gathered 2,000 years ago in the dusty streets of Jerusalem, but the message is the same. The Good News came for our time too. So, as we carry the Gospel story with us today, how will we spend our Lenten time in the wilderness, a place where we can really get down to basics? Mark’s account mentions wild beasts, but also that there were angels to look after Jesus. We are never going to be able to escape all danger in this world. We have to face it and find solutions. Like Jesus, we can be assured that we are being looked after and guided to a place of safety. In our prayers, especially in situations that we find difficult and challenging, we can ask for His help and inspiration. We can discuss our problems with each other, and try to find solutions that are helpful and achievable. And we can remember above all that, as was promised through the sign of the rainbow, God is present with us always. As Jesus assures us in the Gospel, “the kingdom of God is close at hand”. If we open our minds and hearts, we will find it.

It’s the sabbath day; in the local synagogue Jesus is invited to preach. The people are deeply impressed. In their astonishment, they ask each other what it can all mean. Jesus is a prophet like no other; His teaching is teaching with a difference: for He teaches with authority. Other religious leaders simply pass on what they’ve learned from others, but Jesus’ teaching seems to well up from within himself. And He displays this authority not only in His words but also in His actions. It’s been said that in St. Mark’s Gospel Jesus does not merely appear on the scene, He explodes onto it. His appearance is dramatic. Who can ignore a man like this? Indeed, who is He? Where does His power come from? 

So Mark’s Gospel isn’t only a drama: it’s a challenge. What do I make of Jesus Christ? Who is He for me? Who is He, not just in theory but in practice; not just on Sundays but in the living of my daily life? And what about evil spirits? Did Jesus come to conquer them? In our modern, scientific world, we perhaps smile a little at the very mention of such beings. We might ask what drives human beings to do these things as: wars, crimes, destroying history, terrorism?! If today’s Gospel highlights the authority of Christ’s teaching, it is perhaps not surprising that the responsorial psalm should urge us to “listen to His voice! Harden not your hearts.” And if we listen, what shall we hear? Many things, but it will all come down to this: your God loves you, you are God’s child; God has prepared a place for you in God’s kingdom. Do not be afraid, God can conquer every evil that threatens your happiness. Live for God and for your sisters and brothers. When the people in the synagogue heard Jesus preach, they said: “Here is a teaching that is new.” And when we truly listen to Him – not merely with our ears but our hearts – then His teaching is always new, always carrying an appeal and a freshness, as though we were hearing it for the first time. It is always Gospel, always good news.

The word “Gospel” means good news, and St Mark’s intention behind his Gospel is to persuade his listeners and readers that, despite the persecution they were undergoing, it really was “good news.” He does this by showing Jesus in action. There are far fewer of the teachings of Jesus in St Mark’s Gospel than in the other Gospels. He talks about Jesus teaching but, apart from the parables, the Jesus we encounter is the person who heals and nourishes and calls people to follow Him. The kingdom is Mark’s description of the presence of God, brought about through and in the person of Jesus, and it is the person of Jesus who is the good news. Simon and Andrew, James and John are going about their daily activities, fishing and preparing to fish. With his joke about now being made “fishers of men” rather than of fish, Jesus calls them and, immediately, they follow Him. There is no debate or discussion, seemingly not even farewells. The meeting with Jesus is sufficient for them to get up and go.

We are all at different stages of our lives. Probably few of us are at the point where we are looking for what is missing in our lives. Some of us may, like the people of Nineveh in the first reading, have become stuck in a rut that we would like to change but lack the willpower or conviction. Others of us may, like the apostles, be happily dealing with our daily lives without giving too much thought to what Christ might be asking of us over and above that. Others may have experienced that change that comes about through the encounter with Christ and are trying to tread a path that expresses that deeper commitment. At the start of a New Year, at the start of a reading once again of a different Gospel, it is a good time to renew our awareness of what our belief in Christ means. As with the experience of the apostles, it is not so much a question of reflecting on ourselves but asking what we think Christ is asking of us. Who is this person who wanders into our lives and asks us to follow Him? And can we get up and follow Him, even though we don’t know where He is leading us? During this year St. Mark’s Gospel will help us to discern that path.

In today’s Gospel, we have the arrival of the angel Gabriel, who invites Mary to rejoice that she has been chosen to be the mother of Jesus. Classical artists tend to depict Mary as a docile young woman, often kneeling in prayer as she accepts the awesome invitation. Mary is also eminently practical and asks the angel to explain how this will be possible since she has no husband. Mary is testing the wisdom of the message she has received. She is being invited to risk her reputation and perhaps even her life. She would also have known that her parents would have been disgraced in their community because of their daughter’s shame. The angel, in reply, is able to offer compelling evidence that the invitation to Mary is genuine. We know that the story of Jesus unfolded to reveal all sorts of joy and sorrow, contradictions and challenges, leading to His death on the cross of a criminal and, ultimately, His resurrection in glory.

We use all sorts if imagery for holiness and commitment. Our readings today use the imagery of the dwelling places of God. David doesn’t get to finish the work and it falls to his son, Solomon, to complete the building of the Temple in Jerusalem. God’s promise to David was to make David himself the house. His family line would be forever blessed, and this was achieved through the birth of Jesus. We use the image of the house for many aspects of our lives. Our political institutions are often named “houses.” “House of David” meant the entire chosen people of God can be both our physical place of public worship and the house of our hearts. Wat type of house can we make for God this Christmas, at the end of the year in which our own homes may have been places of refuge and safety but also places of restriction and confinement, away from family and friends? What did we learn about the things that make our houses good places to be? How can we be more fully the house of God as we go forth to love and serve the Lord this Christmas? We remember that the first house of God was a stable and that he had to rely on the shelter offered by strangers. Are we able to take this as our model for the Christian life?

There is always an element of surprise in the meetings between Jesus and new disciples. Usually they are surprised by Jesus, but sometimes it is Jesus who is surprised. Jesus is amazed at the centurion’s faith, but He is also amazed at the fact that only one of 10 lepers, a Samaritan, should come back to thank Him. Perhaps this is why Jesus didn’t come in an age of mass media. We don’t meet the Christ as these people did, but we can pray, and we can be amazed by His presence in our life. We understand that He is present in our own meetings with other people, particularly people we might not trust, people such as the Romans and Samaritans this day. If we meet anyone in faith then Christ is there, and the meetings of Christ with John the Baptist and so many other figures in the New Testament are models for our own encounters with other people. John the Baptist at this moment thinks he knows what is his encounter with the Messiah will be like. He is wrong, as the Christ asks to be baptized, showing humility rather than power. Yet there is i-one piece of wisdom that John has, even before he meets Jesus. He knows what he is not. Only Jesus says, “ I am”, in the Gospel of St. John. 

In prayer, we can begin to find out who we truly are. Who are we in the eyes of God and of humanity? To discover the answer to this question we need to be in God’s presence. It is from God that we come, it is to God that we return. The answer to a question, “Who I am?” must always include God. We are God’s children, the redeemed God. John the Baptist, therefore, can only answer in the negative to those who ask him who he is. He is still waiting for the Lord to truly come into this world. Prayer, as the 2nd reading tells us, is to make us ready to meet Jesus. Even John the Baptist, despite his lifetime of prayer, was not yet ready to meet the real Christ. We have neglected Him, we have not prayed constantly, we have not given thanks to God, yet Christ is among us; and at the end of our lives, and at the end of human history, we will meet Him. The more we pray, the more we live a life of thanksgiving, the more joyful that meeting will be.

The liturgy on this 2nd Sunday of Advent features St. John the Baptist. For many people, however, the saint who is most closely connected with Christmas, after Mary and Joseph, is not John the Baptist. It is St. Nicholas. Jolly St. Nick in his bright red suit presents a contrast with the austerity of the Baptist who was clothed in camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist. Even so, St. Nicholas can serve as part of our Advent reflections. He was the 4th century bishop of Myra in Lycia (a part of Turkey). A popular story about him revolves around a poor man who couldn’t provide dowries for his 3 daughters. As each girl reached marriageable age, Nicholas secretly left a bag of gold for the father so that he could arrange the weddings. Over the centuries Nicholas became a symbol of the gift-giving which is part of the Christmas celebration.

The bishop’s name is Greek (“Nikealos”). The first part of his name,”Nike,” means “victory”. It is the name that was given to Greek goddess of victory. Our government has employed it to designate a missile, and sporting goods company has used it for its products.

There is a second part to the name; it is “laos” which means “people”. This meaning should help us to recognize that the great victory of Christ was for the benefit of His people. The legends about the goodness and gift-giving of St. Nicholas have been symbolized in the Dutch version of his name, Santa Claus. This name represents some of the most delightful experiences of childhood, but even for adults it suggests jolliness and good-natured generosity and a man clothed in a bright red suit rather than camel’s hair.

But Santa Claus doesn’t push the Baptist aside during Advent. By his preaching John hoped to move people away from the basis of sin, which is self-centeredness. Santa Claus symbolizes unselfishness. He represents what the Baptist intended to accomplish. He is the gift giver who never receives a gift.

Behind all the legends of the good St. Nick is a yearning for a manifestation in a human person of the unselfish goodness which the eternal Son of God brought to our world. Preparing for Christmas means trying to become what Santa Claus represents, a personification of the kingdom of Christ. We are imbued with the Christmas spirit when indifference is turned into justice, when hatred is overcome by love, and when violence gives way to peace. Is there a Santa Claus? He is found in every person who shares in Christ’s victory over sin.

The problem is that Advent is often imprisoned in the world of shopping and the commercial build-up to Christmas. Recorded carols and office parties anticipate the feast but do not provide any room to prepare for the real significance of the coming of Mary’s boy child in Bethlehem.

Today the coming of the Christ child at Christmas is set against the context of the final coming. We are reminded that the child in the manger will not be just another Christmas baby but the Word made flesh. He is the Son of God, creator of the world. And He is the Son of Man who will come in glory on the clouds of heaven to call the whole of His creation at account. Like Israel before us, we prefer to stay in our comfort zone, live with our sins, and hope that God will get off our backs and go away.

How can we prepare for the coming of Christ at Christmas? First, by placing Him in the perspective of His final coming as judge and Savior. But second, by being alert. Being alert like the servant in today’s Gospel who waits for his master to return, not knowing at what time he will come. And yet being alert also means that we must be ready for the risen Christ to come to us now. As Christ comes to us in this Mass through His word and His real presence in His body and blood we ask Him to make us ready for His coming at Christmas. And as we celebrate these days of Advent we pray for the courage to change, to give God more room in our lives and be alert so that we may obey the Lord’s command to stay awake as we wait His coming.