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Today is the third Sunday of Advent which we call “Gaudete Sunday” (or, the “Sunday of Rejoicing”). As a community of faith, our preparations for the Lord’s coming are halfway complete. So, we should rejoice. However, our goal is not to rejoice because we’ve got all of the gifts wrapped, cards address and stamped, and decorations up. No, we rejoice because we are making progress in preparing our hearts to receive the Lord when he comes...not only on Christmas day but also at his advent in the difficult and challenging moments of daily lives. While we may long to rejoice and to experience that peace which surpasses all understanding that St. Paul speaks about in today’s Epistle, these divine gifts normally don’t come in “Hallmark moments.” Instead, these gifts come as we are jolted into changing how we think about important things, like our lives, our work, and world. Until we think about these matters with the mind of Christ Jesus—which really means overcoming how we have allowed the power of Evil to influence our thoughts—our hearts will never be capable of rejoicing and experiencing that peace we long for. It’s about conversion, the change of mind, that John the Baptist says is necessary if we are to experience the advent of the Lord. Of all the places to hear a story of conversion in modern-day terms, it was on Friday’s Imus in the Morning show that the radio personality and political commentator, Laura Ingraham, related her recent conversion to Roman Catholicism. “I hear you’ve become one of those people who smear their fireplace on their foreheads,” the I-Man said with a noted tone of sarcasm. Undaunted, Ingraham related the story of her spiritual aimlessness until her conversations with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. “He’s a convert, too,” she said. “It all made sense after that point. I was baptized, made my first Holy Communion, and was confirmed all at once. I received three sacraments at once. If the right guy was in the pew as I walked up the aisle to be baptized, I would have gotten married, too, and taken care of four sacraments at the same time.” It was clear from her discussion that Laura Ingraham experience the joy and peace which is the gift of conversion. It’s when someone cries out to us—and it doesn’t have to be a U.S. Supreme Course Justice—as we wander aimlessly in the wilderness of our lives that, all of a sudden, we recognize with great clarity and insight what the truth is, where happiness is to be found, and the peace that can be ours. The moment is decisive, however, because we must decide that rather than turn away or strike out against that person whose voice cries out to us, we will “Prepare the way of the Lord, Make straight his paths.” I want to relate to you the story of a newlywed couple, Jason and Crystalina Evert, who reside in San Diego, California. Like John the Baptist and Justice Thomas, Jason and Crystalina have devoted themselves to a ministry where they are “a voice crying out in the desert, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, Make straight his paths’.” The Everts work for an organization called Catholic Answers. Their ministry involves visiting public, Christian, and Catholic high schools around the country and speaking with teens about God’s plan for life and love. They speak to nearly 15,000 teenagers each month and the couple exhorts their audiences to prepare themselves to receive the peace and joy that comes from committing themselves to chastity. And, contrary to what skeptics might think, teenagers are responding positively to this very Good News. The couple normally begins their presentation by addressing the “How far is too far?” question. They ask the teens to consider how far they would want someone to go…with their future spouse. They also address the dangers of pornography, the beauty of modesty, and the unreported growing trend where American youth are embracing chastity. The Everts stress how God’s plan for life and love is exactly what teens are looking for today. That is, once teens consider the truth about their bodies and the truth about sex, they can experience liberation from Evil’s seductive power to confuse them about their bodies and sex. Teens convert to the Good News not as a result of force, obligation, persuasion, guilt, disease, or fear of pregnancy. Instead, teens do so because they now see clearly and understand how God’s view of love provides everything their hearts long for. In their presentation, the Everts also debunk the myth that premarital sex is liberating, fulfilling, and without any negative consequences whatsoever. Crystalina, for example, discusses how she gave up her virginity at a young age and everything it took for her to turn her life around to experience the peace of God that surpasses all understanding. Jason talks about the difficulties and challenges he faced in his struggle to fulfill his desire to remain a virgin until marriage. The couple also discusses how the myth of “safe sex” is especially damaging not only to one’s sense of self but also physically, emotionally, and spiritually. For example, in recent presentations to 10,000 high schoolers in Michigan, the Everts asked their audiences what the most commonly transmitted sexually transmitted disease is. Not one student knew that it is human papillomavirus (called “HPV”) which is responsible for the deaths of more women every year because it causes 99% of all cervical cancer cases in the USA. Like those students in Michigan, I’m sure many of us haven’t heard about HPV or the fact that the condom is useless in preventing it. So much for “safe” sex. For the Everts, what is interesting is the teens’ response to the Good News. Prior to the presentation at one public school, Jason asked the principal to place a table by the entrance so that the students could pick up a chastity commitment card on their way out. The principal smirked and winked at Jason, saying that she’d be happy to set up a table and would hand out the cards individually in case any student “would actually want one of the cards.” When the program ended, the principal found herself in the midst of a stampede. The teens thundered down the gym bleachers and toward her. The principal literally threw the cards on the table and ran to get out of the way. The students then began to nag the principal because there weren’t enough cards. The Everts base their ministry upon the knowledge that young people are thirsting for truth, for guidance, and for adults who believe in them and their ability to live virtuous and holy lives. Teenagers truly want adults who live by high standards to hold them to high standards. For example, teens have heard in sex education class how to avoid sexually transmitted diseases; but, what they really want to know is the difference between love and lust. True love is what they long for. Too many teens know firsthand what it is like to come from a dysfunctional or broken family, and they listen intently to the Everts’ counter-cultural view of marriage and family life as well as how teens can offer their future children something better than they have experienced themselves. That is what teenagers want to commit themselves to. The most positive response comes when the teens hear that the message which the Everts are proclaiming is the theology of the human body Pope John Paul II has been writing and preaching about since 1982. The teens’ “openness” to the Pope’s message, Jason Evert says, “is something beautiful to watch.” For my part, I believe this is due, in part, to the Holy Father’s unflinching belief in youth and their desire to lead good, virtuous, and holy lives. Then, there’s also the negative response. About Jason Evert’s book, If You Really Loved Me, one reviewer wrote: “This author is a dishonest man who lies to and purposely misleads young people in order to scare them into following his Catholic beliefs. In a perfect world, somebody would explain to Jason Evert why his actions are wrong, and why he should encourage people to do what is right for themselves instead of what was right for him. But in this world he is allowed to try to deceive and convince people into following HIS way of life, so what we must do is use our better judgement (sic.) and ignore him.” In the verses prior to those we heard in today’s gospel, John the Baptist had told the crowd that, if they are to prepare themselves for the Lord’s coming, they must change their minds and how they think about their lives, their work, and their world. And, in response to John’s message, we heard the crowd asking in today’s gospel, “What should we do?” Well, despite the criticism and knowing what teenagers really want to do and will do if a voice cries out to them in the wasteland of their lives, what are parents to do? The Everts argue that, to be parents, it is important to recognize that the difficult task of raising children is a ministry requiring of parents exactly what they expect of their priests. The Everts ask: Do you offer your Masses for your children? Have you said rosaries for them? Have you fasted or abstained from something you enjoy very much for your children? These are proactive spiritual strategies using the most powerful tools available. All too often, the Everts note, parents only turn to these powerful spiritual tools after the fact. More to the point, the Everts also remind parents of the challenge Pope John Paul II issued in 2000 when he said: “Don’t be afraid to be the saints of the New Millennium….The Church and the world today more than ever need married couples who generously let themselves be schooled by Christ.” Chastity, the couple notes, is not the same thing as abstinence. Chastity is a virtue—it builds purity of heart—and like all other virtues, is easier “caught than taught.” When a married couple practices chastity, their purity of heart, reverence, and sacrificial love for each other—evident through their fidelity to their wedding vows and natural family planning—is clearly and patently obvious to anyone with eyes, especially their children. The Everts ask parents: How can you tell their children to follow the Church’s teachings outside of marriage yet believe they don’t apply inside of your marriage? The Everts propose five tough standards for parents: 1. Parents shouldn’t let their children date before they are sixteen and forbid younger girls from dating older guys. 2. Parents also need to remember that they are parents, first, not the buddies or friends of their children. Kids have lots of buddies and friends. They have only two parents. 3. Parents must protect their teenagers from online pornography. This requires placing the computer in a high-traffic area in the house, periodically checking the history of websites visited on the computer, and putting a filter on the Internet browser. 4. If a child should make some mistakes, parents must adopt the viewpoint God takes. Be patient. Don’t blame yourself. Allow your mercy to teach your children what virtue requires.
5. Parents need to know that the absolute “#1” influence that
shapes their decisions when it comes to sexual activity is not the media
or their peers. It’s parents. So, raise the bar and don’t fear
challenging your children to higher standards...as long as you live
according to the same standards. The Everts assert that, if parents uphold these five standards, their teens will thank them. But, they shouldn’t hold their collective breath because it may take two to four decades for the thank-you note to arrive. But, it will eventually come...in the form of teenage grandchildren whose parents are teaching their children the same lessons of virtue which their parents struggled so hard to teach them. Now, you may be wondering just why I am relating Laura Ingraham’s conversion to Roman Catholicism and the Everts’ ministry of challenging teens to adopt chastity on this third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday. We should be full of joy, ready to leave church today to share the Good News of the Lord’s coming. Aside from the salutary worth of both messages that should fill us with joy, it is the ministry of people like U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and Jason and Crystalina Everts—whose voices cry out today to “Prepare the way of the Lord, Make straight his paths”—that enables us to better appreciate the ministry of John the Baptist who called people to change how they think about their lives, their work, and their world. And, when John preached this message, the crowd asked—as people like Laura Ingraham asked Justice Thomas and the teenagers attending the Everts’ presentations about the lifestyle of chastity asked the Everts—“What should we do?” In response, John the Baptist didn’t back down and, I suspect, Justice Thomas and the Everts also didn’t back down. No, John the Baptist told the people precisely what the change of mind he proposed meant in very concrete and practical terms as these applied to their real lives, their real work, and their real world. This is the Good News. But, sadly, many people in the crowd—the critics—walked away because they didn’t like what they heard. The result is that, today, people like Laura Ingraham and Jason and Crystalina Everts are proclaiming today how people must change their minds and what this really means in very concrete and practical terms. And, as we hear what they have to say to us in response to the question, “What should we do?”, we may not like the answer, that is, the Good News that sets us free from sin. Do you want to “Rejoice in the Lord always”? “Prepare the way of the Lord, Make straight his path.” “Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus,” as Saint Paul told the Philippians.
(If you want to learn more about Laura Ingraham and her latest book, “Shut Up and Sing,” or the Everts’ ministry to teenagers in “If You Really Loved Me,” click on the title.) |
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HOMILY
