I hope everyone had a blessed and safe Thanksgiving holiday. I travelled to northern Illinois to be with family, and so I am grateful to Fr. Christian for his extra assistance while I was away. I was also grateful to visit my parents, now in skilled care at a retirement home in Illinois. Both of them have lost the ability to converse (at least not as they used to). But then my sisters and I began to pray the Our Father with them, and both of them chimed right in. It was as if they suffered no debilitation at all!
On my way to and from Cincinnati I saw a billboard for DePaul University in Chicago. To this day DePaul is sponsored by the Vincentian Fathers, and is the largest Catholic university in this country. At any rate, the billboard featured a student with a look of joy and accomplishment. She’s wearing the cap and gown of a new graduate. At the top the billboard it read, “Come here and do well.” At the bottom of the billboard it read, “Leave here and do good.” It might help us think about the Advent season, and its call to conversion. Matthew’s gospel features a strange figure that we hear from this season. He’s John the Baptist, with all his bizarre eccentricities. Clothing made of camel hair and a diet of locusts is not exactly the norm, not even in John’s generation. But his call to repentance and a changed way of life attracted lots of attention.
Even Jesus and his disciples were aware of John the Baptist and the enormous following he had attracted. But never were there rivalries or jealousies between the two groups. Both sang the praises of the other. Both announced the coming of the Kingdom of God. Both were martyred for their faithfulness to God. We might put it this way. Many people did well to listen to both Jesus and John the Baptist. Many people left their encounters with them to do good. But then again, that’s what conversion will do. It helps us to see others and ourselves in a better way. It helps us to enlighten our purpose and goals in life. And it inspires words and deeds that will give witness to God’s kingdom on earth.
Finally, along the lines of “paying attention,” I would ask all of our volunteer ministers to be especially vigilant in the performance of their ministries this season. If you are unable to make it on a day you are scheduled, please be sure to either find a substitute or call the parish office and inform them of your absence. It will surely make for better prepared liturgies that are celebrated well.
