December 4, 2022             

Things don’t seem to appear as perhaps we think they should be, or even could be. There are always two sides to every story and somewhere in this mix is the truth. With the limitations of the human intellect, the desire for preservation to the point of deceiving or lying, and the evil one lurking around the corner tempting us, it is very challenging to be vulnerable and transparent. It becomes difficult to stand up tall to speak with honesty and integrity.
 
With the dilemma of not having all the facts, being biased, and judging we take a side. We listen more attentively to one over the other. Who speaks what I want to hear rather than what I need to hear and to know. We close our minds, our eyes and our hearts because the truth may be too difficult to comprehend. A closed receptivity stops the flow of the Holy Spirit who tries to move us to see all things through the eyes of the Father. Hence, we embrace a basic dilemma of life, preservation or sanctification. Which do we chose?
 
From the beginning with Adam and Eve, the Scriptures speak to the dilemma of self-preservation or being holy and following the life of God.  We can see the dilemma in Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Noah, Moses, the Kings, the Prophets. All had to make a choice: the Lord or the world.
 
During the second and third week of Advent we learn and come know about St. John the Baptist. Some liked him. Others thought he was “odd.” John was different in how he dressed, how he spoke and how he lived. Many people of his day were unwilling to meet this man named John because of his peculiarities. Rather, many talked, judged and labeled him. How odd that they never knew who we was and why he lived the way he did. Those who took the time to see beyond the clothes, the selective foods he ate and the unique message he preached, came to know a man of deep compassion, conviction and love. His focus was not on self. John was the man who led people away from himself and moved them toward a man named Jesus. John the Baptist was the precursor to the Messiah, Jesus Christ. John had a great following and could have been a king himself. But he tells them, “he (Jesus) must increase, and I must decrease.”
 
John the Baptist had the ability to move away from fame, money and power to be the one who helped others know the truth. He spoke the truth in love. And it cost him his life. Jealousy, cowardice and corruption swept the hearts of many of his day and he was martyred, and Jesus wasn’t even dead yet. Preservation or sanctification.
 
John the Baptist, I believe, needs to be model for us during Advent. In reflecting on his life we see his purpose and his mission. He just wanted to bring people to Jesus. John chose to become holy because he followed the mission entrusted to him by God.  And now he is revered over 2000 years later.
 
I ask that we step back and start asking the question about our reason for celebrating Christmas. Is it for self? Is it to satisfy the needs of others? I hope that all that we say and do will move us away from self and toward our true mission: bringing people to the baby Jesus in the manger. The world needs holiness. We need not worry about being judged, looked at or questioned. If all that we do leads self and others to Jesus, and we do it with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, then we will be preserved through sanctification. We will become holy!
 
I pray the next three weeks move us away from the judging, the biases, the deception and lies about what Christmas should be about and embrace the power of the Baptist’s message, “prepare the way of the Lord.” There are no two sides to the story of Jesus Christ. He is our King. He is the babe we will pick up from the manager, carry in our arms and bring him to others to see.
 
With expectation,
Fr. Jim Bilot