Ties that Bind (2012-12-16, Advent)

This is my homily for 16 December  2012 (Advent, 2nd Sunday). I am a Catholic chaplain in Teaneck at Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) campus and for the FDU Newman Catholic Association and at New Jersey City University (NJCU) in Jersey City. We celebrate Catholic Mass - during Fall and Spring semester - every Sunday Evening (5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.) at the FDU University Interfaith Chapel, 842 River Road, Teaneck, NJ.

Sunday Mass will resume at FDU on Sunday January 27.

[ Zephaniah 3:14-18a | Psalm / Isaiah 12 | Philippians 4:4-7 | + Luke 3:10-18 ] 

[__01]      John the Baptist says, “one mightier than I is coming after me … and I am not worthy  … to untie his sandals [his shoes].” 

The tragic deaths – the tragic violence - of this past Friday in Newton, Connecticut remind us that we also need “one mightier than we are.” We need God’s peace which is mightier than war; love mightier than hate.

For at this moment, many families and parents have been made weaker, debilitated by grief and sadness.

All of us are called to pray for them. That in their weakness they may also discover God’s strength.  

For as St. Paul, the example of Jesus on the Cross is that the Son of Man/Son God – willing to die– is stronger than human strength. The Son of God/Son of Man – rendered foolish – is wiser than human wisdom.

[__02]      John the Baptist says, “one mightier than I is coming after me … and I am not worthy  … to untie his sandals [his shoes].” 

John the Baptist is referring to Jesus who is coming after him. John the Baptist is the prophet and herald of our Savior.

John is, at this moment, does not feel comfortable touching even the shoes of Jesus our Savior.

[__03]      What John the Baptist will benefit from – and what we all benefit from is that Jesus ultimately unties his own sandals, his own shoes.

[__04]       What is the condition for entering a home in Israel, in the time of Jesus, or today, or a home in many Middle Eastern and Asian cultures?

The condition is the removal of one’s shoes.

In order to enter someone’s home, the guest must remove his or her shoes. Or, perhaps, a servant would appear and remove one’s shoes.

But, Jesus says later in the Gospel that he is the Son of Man who came not to be served but to serve.  Jesus will remove his own shoes.

 [__05]  This means that Jesus is the Messiah who will be

è Born the Son of God .. but also human, - he empties himself and takes the form of a slave (Philippians 2:__-)

è A child who impresses Temple scholars with his intelligence and tells his mother and father  “did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business?” Yet,  Jesus is both the prodigy and outsider with little prestige in official religious circles.

è A teacher who gathers students/disciples, a teacher who is willing to die for them, but his students leave town before the final exam. He is misunderstood.

In Newtown, Connecticut – December 14, 2012 – many four teachers, 1 school psychologist, and 1 principal were also willing to die for their students, to protect them. This is what teachers do for their students.

This is Christ’s mission to serve.

And, being born human and divine, being the outsider, being rejected, Jesus is our Lord and Savior, untied, unplugged.

[__06]     Jesus, each day, is showing up out our houses, our dorm rooms, our lives, removing his shoes.

Will we welcome him?

John the Baptist says we express this welcome by our generosity.

One example would be the message to the tax collectors. “Take what is prescribed; take nothing extra.”

So, it  is Good News – even in taxation – to take what is prescribed.

[__07]      John is speaking about what we collect and expect from each other.

Should we expect anything?

We might remember that it’s OK to collect what is prescribed.

Take the prescribed amount.  The prescribed amount is Good News, not bad news.

And, we are called to take the prescribed amount in what we collect and expect from each other.

For example, if you or I – as a young person – or a grown up person – turns to our mom/dad or grandparent for advice, then we would be taking what is prescribed, what is expected.

We are called to listen, to seek counsel, to review our options.  And, especially when we are growing as teenagers, as college students, it is very reasonable to continue to ask our parents for their counsel.

Consider their wisdom. They stood – not long ago – where you are now.   You are not bothering them when you ask for their counsel.

The same would be true when we seek extra help from a teacher or professor.  If we did not learn it in class, we can seek out the information, ask after class.

Does the teacher look busy? Just ask politely. You are only taking what is prescribed. Ask anyway.

[__08]       If as a mother or father, you are trying to instill some discipline in your children or as a teacher in your students, follow your calling.  By correcting, by guiding, even by guiding the person who rejects the advice, you are simply giving what is prescribed.

And, if you were to come to me as a priest or any Catholic priest, even though it is busy and it’s Christmas, you would be taking what is prescribed. You would simply be reminding us of our calling, of our responsibility to serve and not to be served.  You do this when you ask for counsel, advice, confession. Take what is prescribed.

Doing so, we also open the door to our Savior. We let him into our lives, let him touch our lives in the way we speak and act.

He is untying his shoes, his shoes right now, entering our world, our home.

[__fin__]