Third Sunday of Advent A.   December 16, 2007.  Our Lady of Grace 5:15 and 9:30.Isaiah 35: 1-6a, 10.  James 5:7-10. Matthew 11: 12-21.

I would like to recommend two very important books to you.  The first is the Bible, the guide book of every Christian.  You don’t need a master teacher to help you understand the Bible.  The Holy Spirit is given to every Catholic in Baptism and Confirmation is the guide that we can all trust. Yet, to help us understand the Bible we have many ongoing courses in Sacred Scripture at Our Lady of Grace. Each week over a three year period the Sunday readings give us the vast majority of the Bible.  I recommend At Home with the Word to you as a book of scripture readings that can help you prepare for the Sunday readings and for the homily.  Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.  Thank God that the Bible is the prayer book of every Catholic today.

The other book that I would like to recommend to you is the Catholic Catechism.  It is very long and very complete, and very inexpensive. It gives us a basic overview of the teaching of the Catholic Church; it is very deeply rooted in Scripture and two thousand years of reflection by the great Saints and the teaching authority of the Church.  A good translation of the Bible and a copy of the Catholic Catechism should be a part of every household. Either may be a good Christmas gift for someone you love!

Sound Catholic teaching is very important, but having said that, it may seem strange that when John the Baptist sent messengers to Jesus to ask him if he were the long awaited Messiah, Jesus didn’t quote theology or religious doctrine to them.  The Pharisees believed every doctrine, kept every minute commandment and observed every ritual.   John the Baptist was suspicious of them because there was no evidence that they were true believers in the way that they lived their lives.   When the disciples of John asked Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”   Jesus replied, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers and sick people are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.”  Orthodox theology without charity is dead.

This past week I went to the funeral of one of my very best friends.  Carlton Peterson was a Covenant Minister, a small Christian Church that is an off shoot of Lutheranism.  He was a very good and loving man who had a vibrant ecumenical ministry and a very special love for those in our prisons.  His funeral was at St. John Neumann Catholic Church, where I was pastor before coming here, because the Covenant church was too small.  There were over a thousand people at his funeral. The Covenant Minister who spoke at the funeral began his talk by saying, “We gather here in the church of Mother Rome to celebrate this funeral.”   The phrase “Mother Rome” surprised me and almost moved me to tears.  Too often Protestants have seen the Roman Catholic Church as the “Whore of Babylon” and even the Anti-Christ.  Much of this animosity has faded but the Catholic Church is still regarded as so intent on theology that it doesn’t pay attention to its words.  A recent document from Rome called Protestant dominations “defective”.  We don’t usually win admittance to a person’s heart by calling him or her a cripple.  It seems to me that a mother would never do that to her child.  A mother loves a child as the child is; weakness, sins, handicaps, ignorance and all.  If we are Mother Rome then we have to show a mother’s patience, mercy and love, in calling the scattered children of God to a deeper understanding of the ancient Christian faith.   Jesus said, “Go and tell John the Baptist what you see and hear – all are welcomed, healed and loved by me and in my ministry.”  In Matthew’s Gospel mercy is always the background against which teaching and worship are to be understood.   Charity without doctrine is not what God intends.  On the other hand, doctrine without deep love and respect for those whose lives we touch can turn people away from Christ.

The play “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens has always reminded me of the message of John the Baptist calling us to repentance.  Scrooge was a cold hearted man for whom business, money and success were his whole life.  He was so cynical that he thought that Christmas and it message of love were bah humbug.  Seven years after his business partner Jacob Marley had died, Marley came back to Scrooge as a ghost to warn him about the dangerous course his life was on.  Scrooge was on the path to hell, but he still had time to change his life. Scrooge said to the ghost of his dead partner, “But you were always a good man of business, Jacob.”

His dead business partner responded, “Business.  Mankind should have been my business.  The common welfare should have been my business.  Charity, Mercy, Forbearance, and Benevolence all, should have been my business.  The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business.  Oh Captive!  Bound and double ironed (in chains).  Not to know that no space of regret can make amends for one life’s opportunity misused.  Yet, such was I.  Such was I.  Hear me.  My time is nearly gone.  I am here tonight to warn you that you have yet a chance and hope of escaping my fate.  You will be haunted by Three Spirits. (Christmas past, Christmas present and Christmas future).  Without their visits you cannot hope to shun the path I tread.  Look to see me no more.  And look that, for your own sake, you remember what has passed between us.”

When people come looking for Jesus, what do they see in us who say that we believe in him? Jesus said, “Go and tell them what you see and hear, the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the poor have the good news preached to them.”

For true religious doctrine and true repentance that enable us to radiate the love, healing power and mercy of Jesus to those around us we give God thanks and praise.