2nd Sunday of Advent, cycle A

MATTHEW 3:1-12
REPENTANCE IS A POOR TRANSLATION OF THE WORD THAT JOHN USED; TO US, TO US IT MEANS TO BE SORRY FOR OUR SINS. THE GREEK WORD IS “METANOIA” WHICH MEANS “TO CHANGE THE MIND”. THERE IS AN ARAMAIC WORD, A WORD THAT JOHN MIGHT HAVE USED HIMSELF, WHICH IS “TOB” AND MEANS “TO FLOW BACK” AND WAS A WORD USED TO DESCRIBE WATER THAT WOULD OVERFLOW THE BANKS OF A RIVER AND THEN FLOW BACK INTO THE RIVER. IT CAME TO MEAN ABOUT THE SAME THING THAT METANOIA MEANS. SO WHY THE LANGUAGE LESSON?
WHEN I AM STUDYING THE SUNDAY GOSPEL, I ALWAYS STOP WHEN I HAVE QUESTIONS AND TRY TO FIGURE OUT THE ANSWER. AND MY QUESTION ABOUT THIS GOSPEL WAS WHY DID JOHN GET SO MAD AT THOSE PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES? WHY DID HE CALL THEM SNAKES? WHY DID HE INSULT THEM BY COMPARING THEM WITH ROCKS? AFTER ALL, THEY WERE STANDING IN LINE WAITING TO BE BAPTIZED, JUST LIKE ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE WHO HAD COME TO THE BANKS OF THE JORDAN.
CONTEXT IS IMPORTANT. JOHN WAS NOT BAPTIZING PEOPLE WITH THE IDEA OF REMOVING THEIR SINS. I KNOW THE GOSPEL TRANSLATION SEEMS TO SAY THAT, BUT AGAIN, WE ARE LOOKING AT A TRANSLATION OF A TRANSLATION, AND THE ORIGINAL IDEA WAS THAT BEFORE YOU COULD CHANGE YOUR MIND, OR FLOW BACK TO GOD, YOU HAD TO FACE WHAT YOU WERE DOING THAT WAS STANDING IN THE WAY. JOHN SAYS TO THE PEOPLE, “LOOK AT YOUR LIFE AND SEE WHAT IS KEEPING YOU FROM GOD AND CLOSING YOU OFF FROM LOVE. LOOK AT WHAT YOU ARE ASHAMED OF – YOUR SELFISHNESS, YOUR LACK OF WILLPOWER, THE FACT THAT YOU CONSTANTLY KEEP MAKING THE SAME MISTAKES. AND THEN TURN AWAY FROM ALL THAT, TURN TOWARDS WHAT IS BEYOND YOURSELF, TURN TOWARDS GOD.”
THE PHARISEES WERE GOOD, WELL-MEANING PEOPLE, FOR THE MOST PART. THEY WANTED TO BE PURE, AND THAT MEANT THAT THEY FOLLOWED EVERY LITTLE RULE IN THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS, ALL 630 OF THEM. AND THAT MEANT THAT THEY HAD LITTLE TO DO WITH ORDINARY PEOPLE. THAT MEANT THAT THEY WERE ALWAYS WASHING AND PURIFYING AND AVOIDING THOSE WHO WEREN'T. AND THEY WOULD GET TOGETHER TO FIGURE OUT EXACTLY WHAT IT MEANT TO HONOR THE SABBATH DAY, FOR EXAMPLE. AND ONE WOULD SAY YOU CAN'T WALK MORE THAN 100 STEPS AND ANOTHER WOULD SAY, NO, YOU CAN'T WALK MORE THAN 50 STEPS. AND THE PHARISEES WERE SO DIVIDED AMONG THEMSELVES THAT THEY FORMED GROUPS AROUND DIFFERENT LEADERS; AND VERY MUCH LIKE THE ORTHODOX JEWS TODAY, THEY SPENT ALL THEIR TIME TRYING TO BE HOLY AND NO TIME TRYING TO HELP SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF THE WORLD AND THEIR FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS.
THE SADDUCEES WERE LIKEWISE GOOD, WELL-MEANING PEOPLE, FOR THE MOST PART. THEY LOOKED AT THEIR TRADITIONS AND ANCESTRY AND SAID TO EACH OTHER, THERE IS A LOT OF STUFF THERE THAT DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING ANYMORE. AND THEY LOOKED AT THE ROMAN EMPIRE AND THE SOPHISTICATED GREEK CIVILIZATION SURROUNDING THEM AND SAID, “THERE IS A LOT ABOUT THAT THAT IS GOOD”. AND MANY OF THEM SAID THAT BEING JEWISH WAS JUST ANOTHER WAY FOR PEOPLE TO BE, LIKE BEING ROMAN OR EGYPTIAN OR PERSIAN; AND THEIR RELIGION WAS JUST ANOTHER RELIGION. AND THEY DRESSED LIKE GREEKS AND THEY WENT TO THE GYMNASIUM AND COMMISSIONED STATUES TO BE BUILT AND EVEN ATE PORK AND SHRIMP, ALL IN DIRECT CONTRADICTION TO THEIR RELIGION'S RULES. AND THE RESULT WAS THAT THE SADDUCEES WERE SO MUCH LIKE THE WORLD AROUND THEM THAT THEY COULD NO LONGER INFLUENCE THE WORLD FOR THE BETTER.
IF YOU READ THE WRITINGS OF THE PROPHETS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, THERE IS A RECURRING THEME – GOD'S PEOPLE ARE TO BE A BEACON IN THE WORLD. THEY ARE TO BE THE SHINING CITY, TO WHICH ALL PEOPLE COME TO WORSHIP GOD. GOD CHOSE THEM AS HIS SPECIAL PEOPLE PRECISELY SO THAT THROUGH THEM, THE WORLD WOULD BE CONVERTED. AND THE PHARISEES, WHO WERE CONSIDERED REALLY GOOD JEWS BY THE AVERAGE MAN ON THE STREET, WERE CLEARLY FAILING; AND THE SADDUCEES, WHO WERE LOOKED AT WITH A LITTLE BIT OF ENVY BY THE AVERAGE MAN ON THE STREET, BECAUSE THEY HAD BROKEN FREE OF THE RESTRICTIONS THAT SEEMED TO HOLD DOWN ORDINARY PEOPLE, THEY WERE CLEARLY FAILING AS WELL.
AND THAT IS WHY JOHN SCOLDS THEM, AND TELLS THEM TO TAKE A GOOD HARD LOOK AT THEIR LIVES, AND COMPLETELY CHANGE THE WAY THEY THINK AND ACT – OR THEY NEVER COULD FIND THEIR WAY TO GOD.
AND THERE ARE SOME OF US WHO HAVE GIVEN UP ON THE WORLD, AND LIVE IN OUR COCOONS, FIGURING THAT IF WE DON'T SIN AND IF WE PARTICIPATE IN THE SACRAMENTS AND HAVE VERY LITTLE TO DO WITH THAT DIRTY, SINFUL WORLD OUT THERE, WE WILL MAKE IT TO HEAVEN. AND THERE ARE SOME OF US WHO DON'T REALLY BELIEVE THAT ABORTION IS THAT WRONG OR THAT THE EUCHARIST IS REALLY THE BODY AND BLOOD OF JESUS, OR THAT WE NEED GOD'S FORGIVENESS THROUGH THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE, OR THAT IT ACTUALLY MATTERS WHAT YOU BELIEVE AS LONG AS YOU ARE SINCERE; AND BEING CATHOLIC ISN'T MUCH DIFFERENT THAN BEING A DEMOCRAT OR A PATRIOT'S FAN OR ITALIAN OR IRISH.
AND JOHN SAYS TO THE PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES OF HIS TIME, AND THE PHARISEE AND SADDUCEE IN EACH ONE OF US, PRODUCE GOOD FRUIT AS EVIDENCE OF YOUR REPENTANCE, OR, TO PUT IT ANOTHER WAY, THE ONLY WAY TO SHED YOUR PAST AND TURN BACK TO GOD IS TO ACT; WANTING TO DO IT ISN'T ENOUGH. AND MAKE IT YOUR GOAL TO SHOW THE WORLD BY YOUR DEEDS, BY HOW YOU LIVE, BY HOW YOU CARE FOR YOUR NEIGHBOR, BY HOW YOU LIVE A PRINCIPLED LIFE FOUNDED ON YOUR FAITH, THAT BEING A CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN IS SOMETHING SPECIAL, SOMETHING ATTRACTIVE, SOMETHING THAT WILL FORCE OTHER PEOPLE TO EXAMINE THEIR OWN LIVES. BECAUSE OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE INFLUENCED BY YOUR EXAMPLE, BY YOUR ACTION, SOME WILL REPENT, SOME WILL CHANGE THEIR MINDS, SOME WILL DRAW CLOSER TO JESUS; AND MAYBE ONE WILL EVEN BECOME A GREAT SAINT.
HOW DO YOU PLAN TO CHANGE YOUR MIND? HOW DO YOU PLAN TO FLOW BACK TO GOD? BECAUSE NO MATTER HOW ADVANCED WE ARE IN THE SPIRITUAL LIFE, THERE IS STILL MORE TO DO, STILL MORE TO CHANGE AS LONG AS WE ARE ALIVE. MAKE A RESOLUTION TODAY TO FIND SOMETHING IN YOUR LIFE TO GET RID OF, AND ASK GOD TO FILL THAT EMPTY SPACE WITH SOMETHING WONDERFUL.