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December 10, 2023: 2nd Sunday of Advent Cycle B
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One of the highest compliments we can offer to another person is saying their life a true reflection of God’s presence. That their choices and actions and behaviors are such that the Holy Spirit is obviously their impetus and influence. That the Spirit of God dwells in them, filling them with the grace to be a “favored Christian.” Favored by God, as the Saints have been. Even more when it’s a teenager, surrounded by cultural pressures to subscribe to this way of thinking, or that way of acting, that is contrary to their faith in Jesus.
The highest compliment given to someone is not congratulating them for being such a gifted athlete. Or even the most gifted student. We should extend such compliments where appropriate, as I like to do. But the highest compliment for any person at any age is to say to them, “Thank you for being God-like.”
This is the language of John of Baptist, speaking about our Jesus. He gives Jesus the highest compliments. “A voice cries out; In the desert, prepare the way of the Lord. Make straight .. a highway for our God,” referring to the Person who comes to save us.
John speaks a language meant to be the first language we speak our lives. It’s the language of God the Baptist speaks in his faithfulness to the One mightier than him.
The language of God is a very pointed language for John the Baptist. It ruffles feathers at times. It challenges us to love better. It calls us to seek and extend mercy. God created this language with the Baptist in mind. He was not around doing his ministry for any lengthy period of time. He came and went quickly. When Jesus showed up and was baptized by John, the man in the funny clothing with a weird diet stepped aside.
This Second Sunday of Advent we hear the cry of John the Baptist. He’s howling from the wilderness. Coming at us from the desert. Can we hear him? Can we hear John proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of our sins? Can we hear this God-language from him, or would you prefer to listen to the Patriots lose again? Thank God they finally won.
John spoke the language that calls us to righteousness; a language of unchangeable truth, a language of holiness and proper devotion, doing away with false gods, unholy acts, and false hopes that tug at our hearts. John’s voice is a good voice. Whatever language he spoke, likely Aramaic. It’s a good voice because he speaks a holy language.
John grew into the voice of the one who cried out in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord.” “Don’t prepare your way,” he said. Prepare God’s way in our life. This universal language of God, a language that de-escalates political jargon, does away with all deception, all misguided information, and speaks the language of love and truth. The heavenly language of faith and religion.
I suspect many parents – and grandparents today – don’t know at times how well they speak this personal language of God so fluently. When parents bring their child to the Church for Baptism, where the child becomes a member of the household of God, they speak more than English, Spanish, or their respective language. When they do this for their children, they speak the heavenly language of God. The same language John the Baptist spoke.
All those parents who brought their second-grade son or daughter to receive their First Reconciliation last Saturday morning. They spoke more than English that day in their religious actions. They spoke God’s one language of repentance, forgiveness, mercy. They imitated John the Baptist, preparing the way of the Lord in their young children.
In our religious preparation for Christmas, John the Baptist teaches us that the language of God – with all of its accompanying actions - is a language of priority for disciples of Christ.
The surest way to be religiously ready for Christmas is to speak God’s holy language. A language God created for people like John the Baptist. And for us. It’s the language of Catholic faith. So, if someone compliments you on your attention to Catholic detail in your life, you have received the highest compliment as a disciple of Jesus.