4th Sunday of Advent 19.12.10 Going further
There are people who reject the Catholic faith because they have never known it and not thought it worth investigating.
There are others who have been in the Church and later rejected it.
There are others again who are still in the Church and yet restrict the degree of their commitment (such as those who go to Mass only at Christmas and Easter).
It is possible at any point for a person to say: this far and no further. Whether I have little or no or much commitment to the faith I can say that whatever I have is enough. I need no more, or I could find no room for any more.
Yet here comes John the Baptist to say: Prepare ye the way – implying that there is more to be done.
There is always more to be done in the matter of faith, in terms of our relationship with God.
The Catholic faith lends itself to formalism, not intentionally, but when we start to organise things it is always possible to reduce something sublime to merely technical details.
Like calculating how many Masses one has to go to, or how much of a Mass one has to be present at to say that the obligation is fulfilled.
These calculations are sometimes necessary but if it becomes habitual to think always in terms of minimum commitments then the whole spirit of the matter has been lost.
The point about ‘religion’ is that it is more like falling in love than anything else. It is not about minutiae of how many minutes we spend doing something. Instead it calls for the whole heart and soul of a person – things we don't mind handing over sometimes but rarely for ‘religion’.
Thus people will be ‘passionate’ about many things: saving the environment, justice for a particular group, pursuing a love interest... following a particular football team, conducting a hobby of some sort...
It is not the passion that is lacking; it is just a matter of where it is directed.
But if we can taste something of the sweetness of the Lord (as the Psalm says) we will be motivated to seek Him more.
This is where the sluggishness comes from: we do not seek the Lord because we do not see how attractive He is.
We need some help from Him at this point. We need Him to give us some small taste of His presence; some sign of His love. Then we can go further.
The cry of John the Baptist is addressed to each of us in every generation. Leave aside everything else that absorbs you and give your whole attention to this one matter I bring before you... Here is your Saviour, your Lord. Bow down before Him.
The question for many is Why should I? Why should I take any particular notice of this Jesus or of any of the associated religion?
Because, believe it or not, you will come to believe that He is the ultimate place to look. Every other place you look for happiness is the wrong place. Look at Jesus; give Him your time and eventually He will win your heart and then all that you have and are.
Just give Him a chance and He will prove to you why that was the best course of action.
And the call of John is for all of us, even if we already believe. Because there is always more to know of Jesus, more to give in response. Not as in paying a tax, getting blood out of a stone, but as in the spontaneous gift of the lover.
So the bad news: More is required. The good news: You will receive far more than you give and you will want to give more.
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