Homily: Second Friday of Advent
Second Friday of Advent (Mt. 11:16-19)
John the Baptist is one of the key figures of Advent. We often think of how we need to grow the church. We would think that we would want appealing people to recruit others into our church. But sometimes strangeness is appealing.
I saw that once when I was in college ministry. When the school year began at the University of Illinois, we would have what was known as Quad Day. On that day, all the hundreds of student organizations would be present trying to recruit students to get involved. Our Newman Center decorated our table and got students to sit at it who were friendly and outgoing. People who looked normal.
We agreed that a representative from a local homeless shelter could sit at our table as well. The shelter was looking for volunteers. When the day came, we set up our table. As we began a young man came from the homeless shelter. He was rather unkept. He had long hair and a beard and a rather wild look in his eyes. He did not sit on a chair behind the table but sat on the top of the table with his legs crossed. He had no sign. He had no flyer. He did not call out to people.
I noticed that throughout the day students would stop to see who he was. He would write their names down on a piece of paper on an old clip board. By the end of the day, he had about 75 names. He disappeared and I don’t know if I ever saw him again.
All this showed is that young people are curious about what makes people march to a different drummer. I would imagine that there was the same curiosity about John the Baptist. People flocked to see him because he was not your typical religious figure. He was not preaching to please people and he was not into self-promotion.
He was trying to make people think about their lives and change them for the better. All of this should be a lesson for us. God quite often works in mysterious ways through mysterious people.
Reflection Questions:
1. Do I expect religious leaders to blend in, our stick out? Why?
2. What would have turned people off about John the Baptist? What would have attracted people?
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Dear Parishioners,
This Sunday we will be welcoming teens to church who will be declaring their candidacy for Confirmation. This will be an awkward moment for some of them. Eighth graders do not like to stand up in front of others and be noticed.
I believe this is an important exercise. These young people will be challenged in the Christian walk throughout their lives. They will have to declare repeatedly that they are followers of Jesus. We need to pray for them, support them and give them our example.
May Our Lady Prayer for us as Christmas approaches,
Fr. Mark