In our parish life, do people experience healing, joy, hope, and is the Good News of the love of Jesus preached to one and all?

You will recall from last Sunday’s Gospel that John the Baptist was a paragon of austerity.  He wore clothing of camel’s hair and had a leather belt around his waist.  His food was locusts and wild honey.  His message was:  “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

 Nobody questioned John’s integrity but few wanted to live exactly as he did.  His lifestyle of fast and abstinence was harsh, reflecting his concept of God.  Jesus, on the other hand, was criticized for eating and drinking, for mixing with all manner of folk.  That mirrored his experience of God.  Little wonder that John’s primary sacrament was a baptism of repentance while Jesus was a communion feast.

So, in today’s Gospel, John, from prison, sent his disciples to ask Jesus:   “Are you the one who is to come or should we look for another?”    John might have added:  “Because you certainly don’t look like the one I was expecting!”

 Jesus said to them in reply, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.’”

This brings us to Jesus who went in a different direction from John – a direction based on his unique relationship with the God he called Abba, Father.  Instead of emphasizing the wrath of God and the punishment soon to come, Jesus saw everything in the context of God’s great, infinite mercy.

In fact, Jesus introduced a whole new language about God.  He agreed with John that the people needed conversion.  But what he wanted people to see first was not the wrath of God so much as his incredible compassion for all.

Jesus emphasized that God comes to us primarily as a savior, a liberator.  He replaced the Baptist’s austere life in the desert with a lifestyle centered on meals open to everyone, meals in which he could invite people to celebrate this new possibility of total trust in a Father God.

And then Jesus began doing something that John never did.  He healed people whom no one else could heal; he soothed the pain of the “least of these” who lived on the margins of society; he blessed and embraced women and children.  Everyone was invited to the feast of mercy. 

That’s the background to this powerful story we hear in today’s Gospel.  John and his followers are beginning to wonder about Jesus.  What is he doing?  John the Baptist is in a dark place and asks a heavy question:  “Are you the one to come or should we look for another?”

Jesus’s response to all of this is very simple:  “Go and tell John what you hear and see.”

Fast forward to 2013 to the papacy of Pope Francis.  During the first Holy Week after he was elected, Pope Francis raised a few eyebrows and opened many eyes.  On that Holy Thursday he visited a prison for young people where he celebrated the annual washing of the feet.  Not only did he wash the feet of Catholics, he included Muslims and women in the ritual.  This was a big surprise for many Catholics, especially some clergy.  For centuries, the Holy Thursday washing of the feet had been reserved exclusively to Catholic men.

During this past Jubilee Year of Mercy, the pope initiated a custom of going out from the Vatican one Friday a month to perform some work of mercy.   In August the Holy Father went to a home for women recovering from prostitution, many of whom had been victims of trafficking.  If someone were to ask Pope Francis:  “Are you the Holy Father who was chosen for the Church or should we look for another?” 

As did Jesus, Pope Francis could respond: “Go and tell what you see and hear.”

I wonder as new people move into the town of Penfield and as they go Church-shopping for the right fit for their family, how do we respond as people ask whether we, the Church of St Joseph’s, are authentic disciples of Jesus or should we look for another parish?  This is the question of John the Baptist:  “Are you the one who is to come or should we look for another?”

In our parish life, do people experience healing, liberation, hope, and is the Good News of the love of Jesus preached to one and all?

As we know, the words and actions of Pope Francis have captured the imagination of the world and breathed new life into the Church. 

So too for us the Church of St. Joseph’s, instead of seeming to impose new obligations, may we be a people who wish to share our joy and the joy of the Gospel, who point to a horizon of beauty and hope in people’s lives and invite others to the Eucharistic table of the Lord.  In the words of Pope Francis:  “The Eucharist is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.

As we celebrate the Sacrament of Penance this Tuesday, may we experience in this sacrament an encounter with the healing Lord; may we experience the merciful love of Jesus.

My favorite Advent hymn is:  “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”  Have you ever noticed the paradox that is found in this very familiar hymn?   “Emmanuel” means “God is with us.”  And yet we pray “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”  Advent joy is like this beautiful Advent hymn.  The joy is already given to us, but we long for a joy that is not here yet.

Emmanuel – God is with us.  Yet we are still burdened by the demons of war, of greed, of selfishness, and of deceit.  And so we pray for a fuller coming of God’s presence among us.  “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”

We pray today that the blind regain their sight and the poor have the Good News preached to them.   May we the Church of St Joseph’s continue the mission of Jesus.  May we celebrate that God is with us  -- Emmanuel.  May we also pray:  “O Come,  O Come Emmanuel.”  We long for a fuller experience of the presence of God among us.