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All of us have been baptized, some of us as infants, some others of us as young people and, as is more recently the case resulting from the introduction of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA), some of us as adults. No matter when we were baptized, however, each of us is fully a member of the Body of Christ and is called to be what the Second Vatican Council called “a leaven at work in the world.” Our challenge is not simply to know what the Church teaches, important as that is. Our real challenge is to allow that teaching to change our minds and hearts in such a way that we bring the light of Jesus Christ into the darkness of our world. That is the call to “discipleship” and is a difficult proposition in any generation. Just this past week, Pope Benedict XVI described this idea. He said: Christmas must be rescued from an overly moralistic and sentimental mask. The celebration of Christmas does not propose to us only examples to imitate, such as the humility and poverty of the Lord, and his benevolence and love for men. But it is rather an invitation to allow oneself to be totally transformed by him who entered into our flesh. As St. Leo the Great noted: “The Son of God ... joined himself to us and joined us to himself in such a way that the abasement of God to the human condition became a raising of man to the heights of God.”
God’s
manifestation has its purpose in our participation in divine life,
in the realization in us of the mystery of his Incarnation.
This mystery is the fulfillment of man’s vocation. This past week, I was reading an autobiography and was struck by a passage, the first half of which, I believe, pretty well sums up how many baptized Catholics feel about baptism, faith, and bringing the light of Jesus Christ into the darkness of our world as his disciples. I also believe what this author had to say applies to most aptly to the males in our congregation; but, that’s not to imply it doesn’t apply equally to the women in our congregation. Quite the opposite! The second half of the passage pretty well sums up what many baptized Catholics are missing in their lives and, I believe, serves to explain why so many of us fail as disciples today. The passage is somewhat lengthy but spot on and worthy of our thoughtful consideration on this, the Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord. The first half of the passage begins:
I went to church [during high school] because it was mandatory. I never
went at [college]. I did go when I visited my parents, but my
primary mission was to avoid irritating Mother. [My wife] and I
were married at [name of the church] in [name of the town]. We
started going regularly after the [children] were born, because we
felt a responsibility to expose them to faith. I liked spending
time with friends in the congregation. I enjoyed the opportunity
for reflection. Once in a while, I heard a sermon that inspired
me. I read the Bible occasionally and saw it as a kind of
self-improvement course. I knew I could use some self-improvement.
But for the most part, religion was more of a tradition than a
spiritual experience. I was listening but not hearing. Sound pretty familiar? Can you identify yourself in this passage? Going to church because you had to? Going through the traditional motions to keep your parents happy? Feeling an obligation to your children? Having an awareness of the need for self-improvement? Listening but not hearing? But, that’s where most people stop. However, this author had the good fortune of having some more religious friends who invited him to a Bible study program that took place on Wednesday nights: …I decided to give it a shot. Each week, we studied a chapter from the New Testament. At first I was a little skeptical. I had a hard time resisting the temptation to wisecrack. One night the group leader asked, “What is a prophet?” I answered, “That’s when revenue exceeds expenses. No one has seen one around here since Elijah.”
Soon I started to take the sessions more seriously. As I read the
Bible, I was moved by the stories of Jesus’ kindness to suffering
strangers, His healing of the blind and crippled, and His ultimate
act of sacrificial love when He was nailed to the cross. This is where the first half of the passage ends: The author “gave it a shot.” However, that’s where so many baptized people go astray. Offered so many opportunities to grow in the faith, so few of the baptized actually take advantage of these opportunities. A simple thing like Bible study can help us to meet not just the infant Jesus, but more importantly, the adult Jesus as he matures in his faith and its practice and, then, as he puts it into practice in his daily life and to teaches about it. Why do so many of us fail to take advantage of all these opportunities to “give it a shot”? Let’s be honest about it: Growing in faith ranks very low on if not at the bottom of the totem pole of the actual priorities by which each of us defines our daily lives. As a result, we never meet or get to know Jesus, to come to admire Jesus, to walk with Jesus, and to be transformed by his example. The second half of the passage begins as the author states: ….In time, my faith began to grow. At first I was troubled by my doubts. The notion of a living God was a big leap, especially for someone with a logical mind like mine. Surrendering yourself to an Almighty is a challenge to the ego. But I came to realize that struggles and doubts are natural parts of faith. I you haven’t doubted, you probably haven’t thought very hard about what you believe.
Ultimately, faith is a walk—a journey toward greater understanding. It is not possible to prove God’s existence, but that cannot be the
standard for belief. After all, it is equally impossible to prove
He doesn’t exist. In the end, whether you believe or don’t believe,
your position is based on faith. The author rightly points out that trying to understand God is beyond all of us. As our Church teaches, we must first believe, if we are seek to understand better what we believe. Having logical minds, however, most of us want to understand—we demand “proof”— before we are willing to commit ourselves to believe. Unfortunately, that’s not how it works with God. Belief not proof is the required first step in “giving it a shot.” The author then completes his reflection upon growing in faith:
That realization freed me to recognize signs of God’s presence. I
saw the beauty of nature, the wonder of my little [children], the
abiding love of [my wife] and parents, and the freedom that comes
with forgiveness—what the [Protestant minister] Timothy Keller calls
“clues of God.” I moved ahead more confidently on my walk. Prayer
was the nourishment that sustained me. As I deepened my
understanding of Christ, I came closer to my original goal of being
a better person—not because I was racking up points on the positive
side of the heavenly ledger, but because I was moved by God’s love. How sad it is today that so many baptized Catholics die without ever having been moved by God’s love. They have lived and breathed, yes, but they have never seen all of those “clues of God” because they wanted to understand—they wanted “proof”—before they will commit themselves to belief. I would hazard to guess, based solely upon my experience as a priest, the number of those people who have never lived as God intended in and from the beginning is legion. They never recognize the signs of God’s presence in the beauty of nature, the wonder of their children, the abiding love of their spouses and parents, as well as the freedom that comes with forgiveness. They may listen but they don’t hear. The Church doesn’t intend today’s Solemnity of the Baptism of Jesus Christ in the Jordan River by John the Baptist to recall an historical fact. While that provides a foundation for better understanding about the gift that baptism is, that’s just a very small part of the reason the Church celebrates this annual Solemnity. More important is that each of us recall our baptism but, again, not simply as an historical fact. While that is important, we also must recall that just as Jesus walked away from the Jordan River to fulfill his mission so too, as all of us once were carried away or walked away from the baptismal font—whether as a child, a young adult, or as an adult—each of us was entrusted with a mission to fulfill. So it is that the Church challenges each of us today: What is your mission? Once each of us can identify that our unique and unrepeatable form of witness as a disciple who is a leaven at work in the world? The answer to that question raises another question that we must answer: What are you going to do to “give it a shot” so that you will be moved by God’s love and see all of those “clues of God,” as God intended for you in and from the beginning? As the author of that passage noted:
Ultimately, faith is a walk—a journey toward greater
understanding….In the end, whether you believe or don’t believe,
your position is based on faith.
By the way, is anyone interested in knowing who the author of the autobiography is? I didn’t mention his name earlier because I didn’t want anyone to be prejudiced based solely on one’s political, social, and economic views. The fellow who wrote that beautiful testimony about his growth in faith is former President George W. Bush in his recently published autobiography, Decision Points.
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HOMILY
