Freedom from, freedom to. . .

NB.  I always get the Mass readings from the USCCB website. . .they didn't have the readings for today's votive Mass on the site, so I didn't know that there were any votive readings!  It's the bishops' fault!

13 Week OT (W)
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
St. Dominic Church, NOLA

Two hundred and thirty-six years ago today, the Founders of our republic signed the Declaration of Independence, in which they invoke the “Laws of Nature and Nature's God,” “their Creator,” “the Supreme Judge of the world,” and “Divine Providence” in order to separate the British colonies of America from the rule of Britain's king, and to declare themselves a people thus freed from tyranny. Having declared that God created man with “certain unalienable Rights,” including “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” the signers catalogue the King's offenses against these natural rights, dissolve all political connections with Crown, and proclaim the colonies “Free and Independent States.” From this moment, the United States began as an civic experiment: a constitutional republic guided by a definition of freedom forged and tempered in 18th century Europe. To be free in America and to be free in Christ are not the same sort of freedom. However, the best possible way to be free in Christ is to be free in America. As Americans, we are “free from” any number of tyrannical restraints. As Christians, we are “free to” follow Christ along his path to holiness. 

The signers of the Declaration of Independence declared the colonies “free from” unjust laws, burdensome taxes, foreign military interventions, and the arbitrary will of a king so that the citizens of the colonies might be “free to” pursue the life, the liberties, and the happiness granted to them by their Creator. As a fundamental document of the American revolution, the Declaration continues to teach us what it means to be free citizens of a free nation. However, the rousing patriotic rhetoric of a political document cannot free a single human soul from the chains of sin. Take, for example, the gospel reading this morning. Matthew tells us that two demon possessed individuals haunted a cemetery, and that they “were so savage that no one could travel by that road.” The way was blocked by the Enemy, the adversary of freedom through Christ. No edict of the king, or imperial warrant from Rome would clear the way for travelers. Jesus removes the demons, freeing those souls from the burden of sin. The way is cleared by Christ so that we are free to follow him. And we are at our freest when we follow him in the pursuit of holiness. We are freest when we pursue that state of perfection in Christ that we were created to achieve. 

In the past few months we have heard a great deal about religious freedom, the right to practice our religion, and the continuing efforts of our government to restrict or abolish these rights and freedoms. You might think that this is a demonic plot against the Church, or a convenient political ploy to get votes, or a necessary limit on the exercise of citizens' rights. Whatever it truly is is ultimately irrelevant to the truth of the Gospel. If our political freedoms can be restricted by edict, our freedom in Christ can never be. If our rights as citizens can be violated by judicial fiat, our natural rights as children of God can never be. We are freed by Christ from the slavery to sin so that we might follow after him. And we can follow after him from home, from school, from church, from jail, or from the hospital. We can pursue holiness in the freedom of Christ despite the laws of men, despite the politicians, and despite the bureaucratic red-tape. Both our rights as citizens and our freedoms as men and women of Christ are unalienable, inseparable from who we are as creatures of a loving God. As Americans, today, we celebrate our “freedom from” secular tyranny. As Christians, always, we celebrate the “freedom to” live and preach the Good News of Christ Jesus! 

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Anniversary

Eight years ago today, four Dominican students were ordained deacons and three Dominican deacons were ordained priests at Blackfriars Hall, Oxford by Bishop Malcolm Mahon, OP.  I was one of those Dominican students to be made a deacon.

Our ordinations brought to conclusion the best year of my Dominican life to date:  study, prayer, and community among the Oxford friars of the English Province!

My one regret about leaving Rome:  I won't be able to spend my annual two months lazing about Blackfriars in the fall.  Sigh.

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Ask the Friar

Ive been teaching classes for the archdiocese's catechists' certification program these past two weeks.  

We're taking this week off for July 4th celebrations.

So. . .this is a good week to Ask the Friar Questions!

Go for it. . .

P.S.  Ask them soon b/c the Master of the Order is visiting the priory on Friday. . .

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An urgent message, patiently delivered

13th Week OT (M)
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
St. Dominic Church, NOLA

When faced with the anxious problems of our panicky Western culture, the Church often seems less than eager to offer immediate solutions. While westerners run around like demented squirrels hopped up on triple shot espressos—causing chaos for themselves and the rest of the world—the Church plods along like a sleepy grandpa turtle, waiting for the rest of us to drop from exhaustion and hoping that the alleged crisis will pass. More often than not, that exactly what happens. Sleepy Grandpa Turtle smiles and continues along at his leisurely pace. Why does the Church seem so untroubled by the trendy pandemonium that we in the West feel is about to overwhelm us? Notice what Jesus does when the crowds threaten to overwhelm him: he flees across the sea. You can hear him saying to the disciples, “Aight, boys. Just get in the boat and row.” When a scribe—sounding a little desperate—says, “I'll follow you wherever you go,” Jesus gives us a hint about why his Church seems immune to cultural panic. He says, “. . .the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” The Body of Christ, the Church, exists everywhere and everywhen. There's no hurry in eternity. 

Just after Jesus orders his disciples across the sea, a scribe and a disciple proclaim an urgent need to stay with the Master. Jesus tells the scribe that the Son of Man has no place to rest. When the disciple asks Jesus to wait for him to bury his dead, Jesus says—rather enigmatically—“Let the dead bury the dead.” The scribe is declaring his desire to follow Christ regardless of his destination. The disciple wants Jesus to linger a bit longer so he can run off and to perform his familial duties. Two different responses to Jesus' order to depart and two different answers from Jesus. Both men want to stay with the Master, but neither seem to understand anything that Jesus has taught them. Had the scribe understood Jesus, he would know that the Son of Man is present wherever two or more gather in his name. Had the disciple understood Jesus, he would know that the Son of Man is present whenever anyone heeds his invitation to “follow me.” Proclaiming the Good News is both an urgent task and a patient process. We are given an imperative to complete and then told to persevere. The world's salvation is an emergency, and the Church's mature response to this crisis is diligence. 

What does all this mean for us, the Boots on the Ground? Unsurprisingly, it means that our most potent tools in building up the Church are faith and obedience—absolute trust in God's promises and hearts and minds radically attuned to His will. If we fall in with the world, we too become over-caffeinated squirrels scurrying around like we're being chased by terriers. Panic is not a form of Christian witness. On the other hand, we can't just sit back on the world's veranda, sipping Mint Juleps and watching creation go to hell. Laziness and indifference aren't good witnesses either. So, we follow Christ wherever he goes, and we “let the dead bury the dead.” In other words, we diligently plod along, spreading the truth of the Gospel despite the demands of the world, despite the frenzied squirrely scrambling-around that the crowds seem to love. Our eyes are squarely focused on eternity, the long-game. Christ is always with us—everywhere, every-when. And because he is always with us, we are urgently compelled to preach his Good News and, at the same time, diligently, patiently wait for the seeds we plant at his command to germinate, sprout, and blossom. There is no hurry in eternity. But for now, we've got an urgent message for the world. 

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No Sunday Homily, Father?

This is the deacons' weekend to preach. . .so, no homily from yours truly!
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Why we fight. . .

Ss. Peter and Paul
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
St. Dominic Church, NOLA

Peter has the keys and Paul has a sword. With these two devices, Peter and Paul preached the Gospel—the keys unlock the gates of heaven and the sword fights the good fight. Both these men were martyred for the faith by the Roman emperor, Nero. Peter was crucified and Paul beheaded. Though they share a martyr's death and a Christian's faith, Peter and Paul were startlingly different sorts of men. Peter was a fisherman, a working-class man with little or no education beyond what most Jewish men of his day received. Paul was a rabbi, a very well-educated Roman citizen with deep ties to the Gentile world. Peter spent his days with other fishermen, discussing tides, catches, and market prices. Paul likely spent his days teaching, public speaking, and rubbing elbows with the political and religious elite. Peter knew Christ personally as a teacher. Paul never met Jesus. Both were students of the Master, commissioned apostles, adventurous preachers, and, ultimately, martyrs for the teachings of Christ. With the keys to heaven and a sword for the fight, Peter and Paul founded an apostolic Church, a Church we have inherited as sons and daughters of the Father. How do we follow them in spreading the Good News? 

In his homily celebrating these two foundational saints, our Holy Father, Benedict, writes, “. . .Peter and Paul, much as they differ from one another in human terms and notwithstanding the conflicts that arose in their relationship, illustrate a new way of being brothers, lived according to the Gospel. . .Only by following Jesus does one arrive at this new brotherhood.” By following Christ and his Gospel, we can arrive at a “new brotherhood.” Not a novel way of being friends, or a superficial means of claiming a “churchy” kinship. But a radically different way of understanding who and what we are to one another through our adoption by the Father in Christ. Because we have died and risen in the baptism of Christ, we are made to be the heirs of the Father's kingdom. As heirs, we inherit all that He has to give. To the Church, He has bequeathed His kingdom—the keys to open heaven's gates for all and the sword to fight against this world's errors and temptations. Our first step in spreading the Good News is make sure all God's creatures know that they are invited to the feast. The next step is to guard this invitation and those who have accepted it with all the strength of our faith and all the courage gifted to us by the Spirit.

After Christ gives the keys of heaven to Peter, he assures the disciples that “the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against [the Church].” If this is true, why resist evil? Why fight against the powers and principalities of the world? The last victory has gone to Christ. He won the war against death on the Cross. That evil cannot prevail against the Church is not a promise or a prediction. It's an historical fact. When Christians believe and behave as if we might lose the war against evil, we reveal a dangerous lack of faith in the Church and not only the Church but in Christ himself. You and I might be defeated by evil, so we fight. But never believe that there is a chance the Body of Christ will fall. When we fight to promote the Gospel and protect those who follow on the Way, we fight to ensure that the Father's invitation to the feast continues to be heard. Peter and Paul died for the faith so that His offer of eternal life might live on to this day. Our witness might not be as violent as theirs, but it is no less effective. Who will see Christ through you today, tomorrow? Who will ask you for the keys to heaven? 

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Mandate for Dummies

 That $2.35 will be $23.50 in about five years.

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Faith + Works = Holiness

St. Irenaeus
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
St. Dominic Church, NOLA

Not everyone who says, “'Lord, Lord' will enter the Kingdom of heaven.” Not everyone who attends daily Mass, recites the rosary, belongs to the altar guild, or serves as a communion minister will enter the Kingdom. Not everyone who wears a scapular, prays the Daily Office, gives lots of money to the Church, or wears a religious habit will enter the Kingdom. But Lord, didn't we follow the rules, keep our noses more or less clean, vote for the right politicians, and stayed awake during the Sunday homilies? But Lord, didn't we help out at the homeless shelter, pray in front of the abortion clinic, report liturgical abuses, and wash the altar linens? I solemnly declare to you, “I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.” Evildoers?! OK, maybe we weren't the holiest Catholics in the parish. . .but we never did evil! How can you call us “evildoers”? Your good works were built on the sands of publicity not on the rock solid foundation of conversion, repentance, fraternal love, and a commitment to the pursuit of holiness. Even an evildoer will perform good works if he thinks that doing so will make him look good. What an evildoer will not do is turn to the Lord in love and beg to be transformed! 

What we have in our gospel reading this evening is the classic problem of figuring out how to balance Works with Faith. Historically, Catholics have favored good works over faith, believing that good works can only come from a faithful soul. Protestants have tended to favor faith over good works, believing that a faithful soul will perform good works. Catholics want to see faith working in the world. Protestants want to see works grounded in faith. We know—as do our Protestant brothers and sisters—that ultimately both faith and works are required for holiness. Where we place the emphasis, however, very often determines how fervently we believe and how hard we work. What does Jesus want from us as his disciples? He wants both fervent faith and hard work. He wants it all; or rather, he wants all of us. All of each one of us. He wants us to cry out, “Lord, Lord!” and he wants us to care for the least of his among us. He wants us to love deeply, passionately, and without limits. And he wants that love to manifest in the world through our words, thought, deeds, and emotions. In other words, he wants us to come to him with a whole heart and a whole mind, undivided, and sharply focused on both speaking his Word and doing his Word. Faith without works is useless. Works without faith is empty

Our rock solid foundation for balancing faith and works is the prophetic witness of Christ himself, “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.” We know the importance of a solid foundation! And maybe a few feet of elevation as well. When the hurricanes come, we want our homes to stand up to the might of the storm. Likewise with our pursuit of holiness. The stronger our foundation in faith, the tougher our witness will be when the storm hits. Good works performed for show are easily washed away. Faith kept hidden away will not be missed. So, the question is: why do we perform the good works we do? How do we show our faith? If we are working in the world for the greater glory of God, then our works naturally demonstrate a profound faith. However, a profound faith kept private can never be a proper witness. If you will give the Lord all that he wants, you will give him all you have and are—heart, mind, body, soul, everything that was first given to you. 

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ObamaCare ruling no favor to B.O.

Everyone else is blathering on about today's Supreme Court ruling on ObamaCare, so I might as well blather some too. . .

The Court majority has done B.O. no favors with this ruling.

First, the individual mandate was upheld as constitutionally valid under Congress' power to impose taxes. Romeny and the GOP can now enter the 2012 campaign season with a potent weapon:  B.O. has set yet another precedent--the largest tax hike on the middle-class in U.S. history.  

Second, the majority opinion explicitly rejects the administration's claim that the mandate is valid under the Commerce Clause.  This means that the Court has said that the Commerce Clause is not infinitely malleable. . .something the Left has long believed and hoped to have validated in this decision.  They didn't get their wish.

Third, the Court severely limits the ability of the Feds to punish states financially for refusing to participate in the B.O. Medicaid shell-game.  IOW, states that do not want to help finance ObamaCare by taking on more of the costs of Medicaid don't have to.  This means that the cost of ObamaCare just skyrocketed.

Fourth, by leaving most of the law intact and labeling its funding mechanism a tax, the Court has returned the ultimate fate of ObamaCare back to the political arena.  Romney's and the GOP's new campaign slogan:  Repeal ObamaCare & Obama 2012.

Now, the 2012 presidential election is a referendum on both B.O.'s handling of the economy AND his signature piece of legislation.  

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Fr. Philip Neri at 4 y.o.

Here's a Christmas pic of part of my family from 1968.  I'm the only one smiling.

This was taken at my grandparents' house in Lynn, MS.  My grandfather, Clyde Mitchell, is in the center.  He died last year at 98 y.o.!
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Fat Report

Scale says, "326, fatso."

Yup.  Still fat.  Still stuck.  I can only surmise that someone out there isn't praying hard enough!  I mean, it can't be MY fault.  ;-)

Sigh.
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What sort of fruit do wolves produce?

12th Week OT (W)
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
St. Dominic Church, NOLA

The flock is fairly warned by Christ to beware false prophets, those ravening wolves who sneak in among us disguised as faithful sheep! We're to be on guard against these creatures b/c they cause spiritual chaos among the faithful. For pleasure and profit, they lie, cheat, steal, and inflict deep and lasting wounds on the Body. Jesus gives us only one criterion for sussing out the wolves among us, “By their fruits you will know them.” Let's leave it to the imagination to picture what sort of fruit a wolf produces. We get one more hint about identifying the wolves. Jesus asks, “Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?” Obviously, no, they don't. Grapes comes from grape vines and figs come from fig trees. If you want grapes, find grape vines. If you want figs, find a fig tree. Likewise, if you want the true fruits of the Spirit, go the Tree of Life, Christ in his Church. False prophets play at being a church, play at being spiritual, play at profound teaching; but, ultimately, they can't hide the stink of falsehood. The question is: how to recognize these beasts before they lead you astray? 

We start with a fairly standard definition of prophecy, “[Prophetic] knowledge must be supernatural and infused by God because it concerns things beyond the natural power of created intelligence; and the knowledge must be manifested either by words or signs, because the gift of prophecy is given primarily for the good of others, and hence needs to be manifested.” The gift of prophecy originates with God; is a kind of supernatural knowledge; is made known by signs or words; and is given to be shared for the good of others. With this definition in mind, the Church understands a prophet to be someone gifted by God with a supernatural knowledge of future events who reveals and shares this knowledge for the benefit of others. This definition would include all the prophets of the Old Testament and several figures in the New—Zechariah, Elizabeth, the Blessed Mother, Anna, Simeon, and John the Baptist. To each of these men and women God reveals a once hidden knowledge concerning His divine plan for humanity. Then each shares what they have been shown. The key question for us now in discerning true from false prophecy is: Is what this alleged prophet telling us consistent with what has already been revealed in ages past? Truth cannot contradict truth. Inconsistency always smells like a hungry wolf. And it is the ministry of the Church to ensure that the apostolic faith remains consistent and uncontradicted within the flock. 

If the truth of a contemporary prophecy must be judged against already established prophetic truths, how can anyone credibly claim to be a modern prophet? All baptized Christians share in the priestly, kingly, and prophetic offices of Christ. We are all prophets. This truth has led some to believe that they exercise the powers of a prophet apart from Christ. With Christ, we are true prophets, proclaiming the Good News along with Mary, Elizabeth, John the Baptist. Apart from Christ, we are false prophets, proclaiming a lie. All that we require for our salvation has been revealed in scripture. All that we require for our growth in holiness has been revealed in Christ Jesus and taught by his Church. Anyone who tells you that you need something other than scripture, Christ, and his Church for your salvation or your holiness is a salesman trying to sell you fresh fruit from a rotten tree. Or even better: a ravening wolf pretending to be a sheep. So by their fruits you will know them. And (ahem) what sort of fruit do wolves produce? 

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Coffee Cup Browsing

That B.O. speech: ". . .no oratory will make up for a flawed record and a vague, fissiparous, and unappealing agenda."  Fissiparous?  Look it up.  I had to!

The God Problem:  "An iron logic strangely hovers about our existence. We are free to act in almost any way we decide. We are not however free to deny the consequences of our acts."

Another atheist bites the dust!  (But in a good way. . .)

All your wedding gifts are belong to Me.

Muslims stoning Christians in. . .Egypt? Sudan? Indonesia?  Nope.  Michigan.

Vatican reports on fostering priestly vocations. . .let's not forget the importance of early liturgical service. . .say, an all boys altar server corps!

A desire to be trendy, Big Gov't bureaucracy, and a failure to consult the troops.  Result?  A $5 billion camouflage uniform that shines like a beacon.

An O.P. friar: ". . .a quasi-religious zeal to eliminate soda, salt, and saturated fat on the one hand, and the toleration—nay, promotion—of grave offenses against human dignity and health on the other."

Watch this young, orthodox priest deconstruct a LCWR supporter before your very eyes.  It's an embarrassing display. . .for her.  NB. who's listening and who's not.

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Gamble on mercy instead

12th Week OT (M)
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
St. Dominic Church, NOLA

Let's get to the nitty-gritty of Jesus' admonition against being judgmental by making an essential distinction: there is a difference btw “judging an act to be immoral” and “judging to person to be immoral.” For example, the Church has always believed that the direct killing of innocent life is an intrinsically morally evil act; therefore, regardless of intent or circumstance, abortion may never be called good. Now, let's say a Catholic female friend of yours procures an abortion and tells you about it. You respond, “Abortion is a mortal sin.” She yells at you, “Get the splinters out of your own eye before you judge me!” How do you answer her? You can take the easy way out and back off immediately, allowing her judgment of you to shut you up. Or, if you're feeling the Spirit's courage, you might say, “I'm not judging you. I'm judging the act of procuring an abortion.” If you want to violate the Lord's admonition not to judge, you could respond, “You are guilty of murder and need to go to confession immediately!” Just know: “. . .as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.” 

 Now that we've made the distinction between judging an act and judging a person, let's look carefully at what Jesus teaches about making judgments. First, as Christians, are we forbidden from judging acts? No, we're not. In fact, we are often required to judge the morality of an act before we do it. Is it moral for me to deceive this person under these circumstances? The cashier gave me too much change: is it moral for me to keep it? Is smacking this person up side the head moral? I'm late for work: may I speed? We are free to deliberate on the morality of acts b/c we are obligated as Christians to behave morally. Are we forbidden from judging persons? No, we're not. But there's a catch. A big catch. Jesus says to remove the splinter from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from mine. If your eye is free of splinters, then start removing splinters from mine! Here's the catch: you will be judged as you judge, and the measure you use to measure me will be used to measure you. So, make sure that the standard you use to judge me is one that you yourself can live up to. Hypocrisy is the art of applying one standard to yourself and a completely different standard to others. And we all know what Jesus thinks of hypocrites! 

Why do we so consistently ignore or twist Jesus' teaching on hypocrisy? He asks, “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?” Well, it's certainly easier for me to worry about your faults than my own. If I pay too much attention to my sins, I might actually have to think about confessing them, and that's no fun. It's also easier for me to accuse you falsely of being judgmental if I don't want to repent of my favorite sin. Judge not lest ye be judged! That's part of the teaching. . .the part that supposedly lets me off the hook for sinning when you bring the sin to my attention. You might have several yards of lumber in your eye when you point out the toothpick in mine. The fact that you're a sinner too doesn't mean I'm a saint. It just means that we are both sinners. So, what's a good Christian to do when a friend is sinning? Take a careful inventory of your own moral life. Pay very, very careful attention to your motivations for wanting to point out a friend's sin. And then decide if you are willing to be judged by the standard you think proper for your friend. No one is perfect. But no one is purely evil either. Gamble on mercy—that's the measure Christ uses, whether we deserve it or not. 

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Remember John and unstick your tongue (UPDATED)

Nativity of John the Baptist
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
St. Dominic Church, NOLA

Audio File Link

Elizabeth, a woman advanced in years, gives birth to a son. After wrangling with family and friends over what to name him, Elizabeth's husband, Zechariah, approves (in writing) the name she has chosen, and the boy is named John. With the child properly named, two events immediately follow: 1) Zechariah's punishment for doubting the word of God's angel about Elizabeth's pregnancy is lifted—his tongue is unstuck; and 2) “fear came upon all their neighbors.” These two events, following as they do upon the naming of this child, reveal to us the significance of the birth of Christ's herald: the name John means “God shows Himself to be gracious.” God, through the ministry of John the Baptist, reveals Himself to merciful, ready to forgive the transgressions of those who repent. Zechariah's tongue is freed so that he might pour blessings and praise upon the Lord. And the neighbors are filled with fear b/c everything they have ever believed, everyone they have ever known is about to change, radically, irrevocably change. John arrives among God's people to announce the coming of the Christ, the one who will break our chains and pierce our hearts. 

Zechariah, Elizabeth, their family, friends, and neighbors all know that the long-promised Messiah is coming. More than 800 years before, the prophet, Isiah, sang one of his four Servant Songs, foretelling the coming Christ: “Listen, O distant peoples. The Lord called me from birth, from my mother's womb he gave me my name. He made of me a sharp edged sword [. . .] He made me a polished arrow [. . .] You are my servant, he said to me [. . .] through whom I show my glory.” The Christ will arrive as a sharp edged sword to cut the bonds of sin. He will fly to God's people as a polished arrow to pierce their hearts so that they might die and rise with him. But freeing the people from sin and taking them into death and new life is not the end of Christ's purpose. Isiah continues to sing, “It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant, [. . .] I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” Christ's mission will not limited to those chosen in the covenant with Abraham. Christ comes as a light to all the nations so that the offer of the Father's mercy might be heard to the ends of the earth. John, he through whom “God shows Himself to be gracious” is just the beginning. 

For what exactly is John just the beginning? John's birth presages the birth of Christ, and the birth of Christ signals a new birth for all of creation. When Zechariah doubts the word of God's angel about his wife's miraculous pregnancy he is doing more than just questioning the integrity of a divine messenger. No doubt believing himself to be just an average senior citizen doing average senior citizen stuff day after day, Zechariah is told that his elderly wife, known to be barren, is to bear him a son, a son named John who “will be filled with the holy Spirit [. . .] turn the [. . .] disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord.” And like any guy anywhere in the world in these circumstances, he balks at the news and asks, “Are you kidding me? My wife's an old lady!” And because he fails to remember who he is—a priest of God in God's temple—and b/c he flagrantly casts doubt on the entire prophetic heritage of his people, Zechariah is stuck speechless so that his doubt may not be spoken again. It is not until he names his son, John, “God shows Himself to be gracious,” that his tongue is freed to give God thanks and praise. 

We know that John's birth presages the birth of Christ, and the birth of Christ signals a new birth for all of creation. And we know that Zechariah's tongue is freed once he confesses God's abounding mercy. But why are the neighbors afraid? Luke tells us that Zechariah immediately begins blessing God when his tongue is unstuck, and “then fear came upon all their neighbors. . .” As neighbors will do, they spread the news of John's birth, and “all who heard these things took them to heart, saying, 'What, then, will this child be?'” What will John be? If “John” means “God shows Himself to be gracious,” who will he become? If they remember their ancient prophetic heritage, they know all too well that John is the one who sharpens the sword of Christ and polishes his arrows. He is the one who warns that the light of righteousness is about to shine; the one who come before the salvation of the world. They are afraid b/c John is now among them to preach repentance and to baptize those who repent with the waters of mercy. For them, in their disobedience, John is an angel and a monster—a messenger of light from God and a beast sent to tear their world apart. Everything they believe and everyone they know is radically changed. 

Here we are 2,000 years after the death and resurrection of Christ, celebrating the birth of God's monstrous angel, John the Baptist. Luke tells us in Acts that John would conclude his preaching by saying, “'What do you suppose that I am. I am not [the Christ]. Behold, one is coming after me; I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.'” John knew his ministry. He knew his mission. From the first moment that he met Jesus while both were still in their mothers' wombs, John knew that it was his task to run before the Christ, announcing the Good News of his advent. Why celebrate his birth in 2012? His mission is accomplished. Christ is born. The light of the nations has dawned and salvation is freely received by anyone who repents. We celebrate John's birth b/c it is all too easy to forget our prophetic heritage; to set aside the ancient voice of God and misremember the promises He made ages ago. If we forget, our tongues become stuck in ignorance and we cannot offer Him thanks and praise for His gifts. We cannot bear witness to His goodness in our lives. We cannot ask for what we need, nor receive what He has given us. If we forget John, we forget that God shows Himself to be gracious to us, and we cannot show His graciousness to others. If we forget John, we forget that we ourselves are heralds of the Christ, and we forget that we too were born to bear his banner to the world. 

When you bear Christ's banner to the world, your family, friends, and neighbors may stare at you in fear and ask, “What, then, will this child be?” Who is this person claiming to be a follower of Christ? If you will bear his banner as a herald, you must unstick your tongue and pour out blessings and praise on God. John was imprisoned, tortured, and eventually executed for his righteousness. Expect no less if you will be a herald of Christ. If you will be a herald of Christ, you will tell the truth; always do the right thing; preach the Father's boundless mercy; and love, with great abandon, you will love. Expect defiance, argument, ridicule, insults, even violence. Expect the powers of this world to name you a criminal, a rebel, a bigot. At every moment, expect the darkness to come and tempt you with its easy oblivion. Just remember John, he through whom God shows Himself to be gracious. And while you remember, never forget to unstick your tongue and give your voice to the Word of salvation: Christ has come to right the world with his love. He has come to cut our bonds to sin and to pierce our hearts with his mercy.

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