So let’s take a moment and think back before Christmas, if you can, back when we heard about John the Baptist here in the gospel readings. We heard about him back in Advent because he was someone who felt called by God to be on the lookout for God alive and active in this world. He believed that God was sending someone to us, someone who would change everything. John attracted huge crowds and gotten them very excited, telling them that he, John, was not that person, but that when that person came, you’d know him. And yet, when Jesus came, John did not know him. He says twice in…
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We just heard two stories today, in that first reading and in the gospel, about God speaking to people very directly. So I think the question for today is, does God speak to people, and does he ever speak to us? The first problem we face trying to answer that question is this. We all have seen people who seem very sure God speaks to them all the time, and is it possible they’re delusional or confused? Unfortunately the answer is yes, it is quite possible. We’re human and we can all deceive ourselves or be deceived by others. Plenty of people manage to convince themselves they’re on God’s side…
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I have this friend, and I’m not going to mention any names of course, but I have a friend who has very, very little talent when it comes to having a party. I guess his heart is in the right place and all, but all the things that really make a party work, even a little dinner, just aren’t quite right. If you arrive a little hungry, and you’re hoping there are some appetizers out that you can take the edge off with, you will probably be disappointed. There’s wine available, which is good, but there are the tiniest wine glasses you can imagine, beautiful, but fragile and tiny, so…
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I’m going to ask you to take a moment and think back before Christmas, if you can, and think about the last time we heard about John the Baptist here in the gospel readings. That was back in Advent, and there was a lot about John the Baptist. We hear about him then because he was someone who felt called by God to be on the lookout for God alive and active in this world. He believed that God was sending someone to us, someone who would change everything. And John had attracted huge crowds and gotten them very excited, telling them that he, John, was not that person, but…
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Last weekend, at the invitation of Brother Robert, I was on a panel for our 8th grade PREP students here about religious vocations. Of course they also had a priest, our friend Father Dave Farnum from the Paulists, and there was one of Brother Robert’s confreres in his religious order, and two incredibly friendly and appealing religious sisters. We all did the best we could to give an account of what we do. If you’ve never seen Father Dave at work recruiting for vocations, he is a real pro. He has a wad of $20 bills that he takes out and he offers one to any young man who’ll step…
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If this gospel scene we just heard were a Hollywood movie, with these first two apostles suddenly dropping everything and knowing they just had to follow Jesus, we know how it would look. Jesus would appear on the scene and immediately we’d know who he was, there would be something mesmerizing about Jesus, probably very handsome, certainly more handsome than anyone else in the movie. You’d be able to tell from hundreds of feet away that there was something powerful about him, he’d look like he was calm and composed and somehow not of this world, with a far-away look. His eyes would lock onto these two followers of John…