Search

Results

The inner word

06 Dec 2015 - Second Sunday of Advent, Cycle C

In the gospel, John the Baptist repeats Isaiah’s prophecy about a time to come when ground will be made level and paths straight. In biblical terms these words are metaphors for the change that needs to happen in one’s personal life. Advent is a good time to “prepare the way of the Lord” in your heart and mind. In your own life what are the “valleys” that need to be filled? What is “crooked” that you need to straighten?

Prophecy john the baptist

Restricted
In other words

06 Dec 2015 - Second Sunday of Advent, Cycle C

In the 15th year of the rule of Caesar Tiberius—it was while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea; Herod, ruler of Galilee; his brother Philip, ruler of Iturea and Trachonitis; Lysanias, ruler of Abilene; during the chief-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas—John, Zachariah’s son, out in the desert at the time, received a message from God. He went all through the country around the Jordan River preaching a baptism of life-change leading to forgiveness of sins, as described in the words of Isaiah the prophet: Thunder in the desert! “Prepare God’s arrival! Make the road smooth and straight! Every ditch will be filled in, Every bump smoothed out, The detours straightened out, All the ruts paved over. Everyone will be there to see The parade of God’s salvation” (from Luke 3). Taken from The Message: Catholic/Ecumenical Edition by Eugene Peterson (ACTA Publications, 2014 ); actapublications.com; 800-397-2282.

john the baptist baptism

Restricted
Exploring the word

18 Jan 2015 - Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Relationships often begin with an introduction. Sometimes it’s mediated, as when a mutual friend brings two strangers together and makes a connection. Or it could be direct: We might take the risk with a person unknown, say hello, and offer our name. Often we encounter strangers in the context of a role they play: bank tellers, bus drivers, our children’s teachers, medical personnel. In this thin sense we may know what they do, but not really who they are or what we may expect from them. Today’s scripture passages involve two fateful introductions: First Samuel, a future prophet, meets the one true God whom he will serve his whole life. And then two disciples of John the Baptist have their attention directed toward an obscure local teacher whom their own famed teacher terms “the Lamb of God.” Each encounter is mediated: The priest Eli encourages Samuel in how to respond to the voice seeking to communicate with him. The Baptist turns his disciples toward one destined to outshine his own celebrated ministry. Each mediated introduction has a note of humility in it. Poor Eli has never heard the voice speaking to his intern at the shrine, yet he knows enough to recognize that Samuel has been so favored. John stands to lose two valuable followers to Jesus, but makes the identification anyway. An introduction is not all there is to these encounters. Once an introduction is made, it’s up to the parties involved to follow through to real relationship. How often do parents, pastors, catechists, and religion teachers point us in the direction of Jesus, and we may not take the bait and forge a genuine connection! Happily, this wasn’t the case with Samuel or John’s disciples. Though just a boy, Samuel takes direction from the old priest thoughtfully. The voice is strange to him, yet he offers to listen, to pay attention—the technical word here is to obey. Because he’s so willing to attend to God the stranger, Samuel will foster a lifelong relationship with God who is Lord, guide, and companion. As a result, Samuel becomes the most effective judge who ever exercised leadership in Israel. The disciples who depart from John and approach Jesus make the same choice. They ask where this teacher is staying in a bid to join his school wherever it gathers. One of these two happens to be Simon Peter, a rock foundation for the future church. These fateful introductions remind us of the responsibility we have to forge connections for the next generation, in our families, among our friends and any seekers we meet along the way. We have an even greater responsibility to make this relationship real for ourselves.

Authors Alice Camille

john the baptist relationships

Restricted
The inner word

18 Jan 2015 - Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

There are all kinds of calls going on in the readings today—and all kinds of people who respond in different ways. Sometimes people are being called clearly, sometimes not. In one case God is doing the calling; in another, someone is calling on God’s behalf. And in between the callers and receivers are people like you—intermediaries—who either act as a clear conduit or as a telephone operator helping customers with a call. How am I like Samuel? Am I unsure of something in my life right now but unclear on which way God is telling me to go? Besides God’s voice, what other “voices” are competing for my attention as I make decisions—voices that represent the expectations of parish, family, friends? Voices from my past? Voices of guilt, fear, or selfishness? How am I like the two intermediaries in today’s readings? How am I like Eli, who uses time, patience, and experience to help another figure out God’s call? How am I like the John the Baptist, using teaching, proclamation, and intensity to persuade others to follow Christ?

john the baptist

Restricted
In other words

18 Jan 2015 - Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

John was back at his post with two disciples. He looked up, saw Jesus walking nearby, and said, “Here he is, God’s Passover Lamb.” The two disciples went after Jesus. They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” He replied, “Come along and see for yourself.” They came, saw where he was living, and ended up staying with him for the day. Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard John’s witness and followed Jesus. The first thing he did after finding where Jesus lived was find his own brother, Simon, telling him, “We’ve found the Messiah” (that is, “Christ”). He immediately led him to Jesus. Jesus took one look up and said, “You’re John’s son, Simon? From now on your name is Cephas” (or Peter, which means “Rock”) (from John 1). Taken from The Message: Catholic/Ecumenical Edition by Eugene Peterson (ACTA Publications, 2014 ); actapublications.com; 800-397-2282.

john the baptist

Restricted
In other words

14 Dec 2014 - Third Sunday of Advent, Cycle B

There once was a man, his name John, sent by God to point out the way to the Life-Light. He came to show everyone where to look, who to believe in. John was not himself the Light; he was there to show the way to the Light. When Jews from Jerusalem sent a group of priests and officials to ask John who he was, he was completely honest. He told the plain truth: “I am not the Messiah.” They pressed him, “Who, then? Elijah?” “I am not.” “The Prophet?” “No.” Exasperated, they said, “Who, then? We need an answer for those who sent us. Tell us something—anything!—about yourself.” “I’m thunder in the desert: ‘Make the road straight for God!’ I’m doing what the prophet Isaiah preached.” Those who sent to question him were from the Pharisee party. Now they had a question of their own: “If you’re neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet, why do you baptize?” John answered, “I only baptize using water. A person you don’t recognize has taken his stand in your midst. He comes after me, but he is not in second place to me. I’m not even worthy to hold his coat for him” (from John 1). Taken from The Message: Catholic/Ecumenical Edition by Eugene Peterson (ACTA Publications, 2014 ); actapublications.com; 800-397-2282.

john the baptist

Restricted
Homily themes

14 Dec 2014 - Third Sunday of Advent, Cycle B

A lot of people claim to know it all. If all can be known, why is the world such a mess? John the Baptist, who knew a lot more than most people, chose the way of humility. Humility sets us free to embrace the truth about ourselves: We’re not God. That also sets God free to be God in our lives. When God is allowed to be God for us, we find a reason to rejoice.

Humility john the baptist

Restricted
In other words

07 Dec 2014 - Second Sunday of Advent, Cycle B

The good news of Jesus Christ—the Message!—begins here, following to the letter the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Watch closely: I’m sending my preacher ahead of you; He’ll make the road smooth for you. Thunder in the desert! Prepare for God’s arrival! Make the road smooth and straight! John the Baptizer appeared in the wild, preaching a baptism of life-change that leads to forgiveness of sins. People thronged to him from Judea and Jerusalem and, as they confessed their sins, were baptized by him in the Jordan River into a changed life. John wore a camel-hair habit, tied at the waist with a leather belt. He ate locusts and wild field honey. As he preached he said, “The real action comes next: The star in this drama, to whom I’m a mere stagehand, will change your life. I’m baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. His baptism—a holy baptism by the Holy Spirit—will change you from the inside out” (from Mark 1). Taken from The Message: Catholic/Ecumenical Edition by Eugene Peterson (ACTA Publications, 2014 ); actapublications.com; 800-397-2282.

john the baptist baptism

Restricted
Sign & sacrament

07 Dec 2014 - Second Sunday of Advent, Cycle B

Ever bump into your parish priest in the supermarket? You may not have recognized him at first because he was “out of uniform” and out of the context of the church. That’s why the gospel takes pains to describe John the Baptist. It was important to know that John was a prophet, an “official” one who dressed and lived and even ate like the prophets of old. Somebody with credentials had to introduce Jesus. After all, the Lord was plain and ordinary, just like everybody else. “Isn’t he the carpenter?” people would ask later on in the story. It would be hard to imagine that a construction guy could put together a whole new world.

john the baptist prophets

Restricted
Exploring the word

15 Dec 2013 - Third Sunday of Advent, Cycle A

I learned one valuable liturgical lesson living in the southern California desert for nine years: Deserts do bloom! It’s not a miracle but a fact of nature. A desert is geologically defined as a place that is very short on water, so some years spring comes and there is no bloom. You have to wait for the flowers. You have to be patient. You have to believe in the colors and soft textures that seem impossible to produce out of brown sticks and sand. But when there’s enough water, maybe in two years or three, the desert will bloom. Cactuses, shrubs, trees of many arid varieties will summon up purples, pinks, yellows, golds, and scarlets you can hardly imagine. Soft, gentle petals out of prickly, uninviting places! With only a little water, and a lot of patience, a barren land becomes a riot of beauty. The same is true of every human heart. We’ve all been hurt. Some of us carry deep wounds and scars that the people sitting next to us do not suspect. Some of us wait long years for love, for something to relieve the pain and loneliness and barrenness of time. We may wait through seasons of boredom, purposelessness, illness, recuperation from some terrible loss or difficult betrayal. We wait through times of anxiety. We drift. We rage. We feel nothing at all. And nothing blooms in us during these lost seasons. It’s as if we’re sleepwalking through our lives and not really living them. I’ve had seasons like that—I had a decade like that once! The desert was inside me, swallowing up hope as months passed and nothing on the landscape changed. It’s hard to believe in the blooming time when you don’t seem to give or receive love; when kind words are not heard, tender touch is not felt, and soft eyes are never turned your way. The desert may seem stagnant, but it isn’t. It continues to encroach and engulf all terrain along its borders, battling even the towns with wind and sand, trying to claim more territory. The inner desert threatens faith, hope, and love. It tells you to stop waiting, nothing is coming, no one is listening. John the Baptist, a man of the wilderness, understood the desert very well, so he came bearing the gift of water and watched as desert people all around him burst into bloom. Jesus praises John for being a prophet, for seeing what the rest of us might have missed. Then Jesus astounds us by saying we can see farther than John if we accept his invitation to see with Kingdom eyes. From the Kingdom perspective, we’ll perceive the bloom hiding in every desert and rejoice as we await its bursting through. Related scripture links Possessing our souls in patience: Luke 21:19 [KJV] Other harvest meanings and metaphors: Exod. 34:22; Ps. 126:5-6; Prov. 22:8; Isa. 9:2; Hos. 8:7; 10:12-13; Matt. 9:37-38; 13:36-40; John 4:35-38; 1 Cor. 9:10-11; Heb. 6:7-8; Rev. 14:14-20 The virtue of Christian hope: Rom. 5:1-5; 8:24-25; 12:12, 15:12-13; 1 Cor. 13:13; Heb. 3:12-15; 6:11-12; 11:1 Catechism links Faith and doubt: CCC 26; 142-175; 2087-2089

Authors Alice Camille

john the baptist Desert patience belief

Restricted

← Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next →