“Be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord,” James pleads. Patient? For any of us who had to wait for the ferry, there are times when we are not patient. When the need arises to be patient, I am mindful of a prayer by St. Theresa of Avila. “Lord, I want patience and I want it now!”
In the opening scene of the gospel, we find John the Baptist in prison and he doesn’t sound too patient. Was he impatient because his cousin, Jesus, hadn’t rescued him? After all, Jesus claimed, quoting the prophet Isaiah, that he was sent “to proclaim liberty to captives.”
Perhaps John the Baptist expected the kingdom of God to come very soon, liberating Israel from the oppressive Romans. Since that wasn’t happening, he sent his disciples to inquire, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” In other words, are you the Messiah or not? In reply, Jesus paraphrases the passage from Isaiah that we just heard, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, and the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”
Yes, blessed is that person who is not offended by what Jesus does and has done. Yet how often have we wondered that same question posed by John, “Are you the one who is to come?” Are you the one who is going to supposedly save the world? If so, why is the world still such a mess?
Any one of us might be wondering, Lord, do you see how many are suffering from refugees at the Rio Grande to children huddled in bombed out buildings in Gaza and Syria? From communities destroyed by forest fires to villages in Africa decimated by diseases? Do you see that too many young people are dying too soon from violence, war, illness or addictions? People offer any number of reasons why there is still suffering in our world. Some even question if God exists while others contend that God doesn’t care. You could say that they have taken offense at Jesus.
“The one who is to come” was one of the many titles for the Messiah. At that time Israel was alive with the hope and anticipation that the Messiah would soon come and free them from the oppression they suffered from. History tells us that the Messiah was not to be a political liberator.
Who are we looking for in our Messiah? John the Baptist, even while he was in his mother’s womb, recognized Jesus as the Messiah but even he, in the darkness of his prison, had doubts and needed reassurance that Jesus was indeed the Messiah sent by God. There may be times in our lives when our faith is growing weak; our hope is dying, and our charity running low. In such moments, we need not despair. Even John the Baptist had troubled times. We should turn to Christ, not because we expect him to magically make everything better, but because he can renew our faith.
As James tells us, until the day comes when God takes us to our heavenly dwelling, we have to wait patiently with faith. Some lose patience and faith, thus they look elsewhere for a new savior. Granted, my friends, bad things will happen to good people so long as we have free will, but there is no other answer to life’s ups and downs as far as I know. It is in Christ, our Messiah, that we can find our lasting joy.
As I said, James urges us to be patient, reminding us that the coming of the Lord is at hand. To us, 2000 years may seem like an eternity but when you consider the age of the universe, that span of time is like a second to God.
In the meantime, we must take up Isaiah’s dream and perform works of mercy as Christ did. There are still poor to be fed, the sick to be visited, sinners to be admonished and offenses to be forgiven. When we continue Christ’s ministry in this way, not only will we find him alive and still at work, but we can also share his hands and voice and heart with a world in desperate need of encountering the Lord.
This gospel passage poses the problem of our acceptance or rejection of the person of Jesus as our Messiah. John’s question is just as relevant today for us as it was then. Is Jesus the Messiah we are looking for? The season of Advent is a good and opportune time to assess what impact and influence Jesus has on our behavior and values.
Psalm 146, which we heard today, reminds us of God’s vision for our world, that the oppressed will experience justice and the hungry will be fed. Captives will be set free and all will experience a better world.
That is the mission and vision of Catholic Community Services. I now invite Brady to come and share with us how we can all be engaged in their vision for a better world.