2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, cycle A

JOHN 1:29-34
RECENTLY I WAS ASKED BY SOMEONE WHETHER THERE WAS A CATHOLIC PHYSICIAN'S GUILD IN THE SPRINGFIELD AREA. THIS IS AN ORGANIZATION THAT SEEKS TO PROMOTE THE IDEA THAT A CATHOLIC PHYSICIAN HAS A SPECIAL VOCATION – TO EMBODY CHRIST AS HEALER. WELL, THERE ISN'T. THERE WAS AN ACTIVE CHAPTER IN BUFFALO, WHERE I LIVED BEFORE I CAME HERE, BUT TO BE HONEST, I NEVER ACTUALLY GOT INVOLVED. IN BUFFALO, IT SEEMED AS THOUGH THE GUILD MOSTLY HAD BANQUETS AND SPONSORED AN ANNUAL MASS FOR PHYSICIANS. TO BE FAIR, THEY ALSO RAISED MONEY TO PROVIDE A PARTIAL SCHOLARSHIP FOR A MEDICAL STUDENT, AND I'M SURE THEY MUST HAVE DONE OTHER THINGS.
AS I BEGAN TO MUSE ON WHETHER THIS WAS SOMETHING THAT MIGHT BE STARTED HERE IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS, I REALIZED THAT WITH THE EXCEPTION OF A HANDFUL OF PHYSICIANS THAT I SEE AT MASS ON SUNDAYS, I HAD NO WAY OF TELLING WHETHER A PARTICULAR PHYSICIAN WAS A PRACTICING CATHOLIC OR NOT. HOW COULD ANYONE EVEN BEGIN TO FIND PHYSICIANS WHO WERE SERIOUS ABOUT THEIR FAITH AND WOULD FORM THE NUCLEUS OF A CHAPTER OF THE CATHOLIC PHYSICIAN'S GUILD?
WHEN WE STUDY THE READINGS TODAY, LISTEN TO SOME OF THE PHRASES:
FROM ISAIAH: I WILL MAKE YOU A LIGHT TO THE NATIONS, THAT MY SALVATION WILL REACH TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH.
FROM THE PSALM: I ANNOUNCED YOUR JUSTICE IN THE VAST ASSEMBLY; I DID NOT RESTRAIN MY LIPS, AS YOU, O LORD, KNOW.
FROM THE EPISTLE: PAUL, CALLED TO BE AN APOSTLE, (THAT IS, A WITNESS) OF CHRIST JESUS.
FROM THE GOSPEL: NOW I HAVE SEEN AND TESTIFIED THAT HE IS THE SON OF GOD.
THE THEME RUNNING THROUGH ALL THESE READINGS IS ONE OF WITNESS. IF YOU ARE CALLED TO WITNESS, AND YOU DON'T WITNESS, SOMETHING IS VERY WRONG. AND THAT IS WHAT I REALIZED WHEN I THOUGHT ABOUT MY FELLOW PHYSICIANS. IF I CAN'T TELL IF THEY ARE PRACTICING CATHOLICS, SOMETHING IS TERRIBLY WRONG. BUT I CAN'T.
AND BELIEVE ME, I'M NOT PICKING ON PHYSICIANS. I THINK IF EACH OF US THINKS ABOUT THE PEOPLE WE KNOW A LITTLE BIT, THE PEOPLE WE WORK WITH, THE PEOPLE WE SEE ON TELEVISION, OUR POLITICAL FIGURES – CAN WE PICK OUT THOSE WHO PRACTICE THEIR FAITH? CAN WE IDENTIFY ANY WHO ARE ACTUALLY WITNESSING WITH THEIR WORDS, OR WITH THEIR LIVES, THAT JESUS IS LORD, THAT JESUS IS MESSIAH, THAT JESUS IS THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SINS OF THE WORLD? THEY MAY BE PRACTICING THEIR FAITH, BUT THEY CERTAINLY BLEND IN WELL, THEY CERTAINLY MANAGE TO KEEP THIS FACT UNDER WRAPS.
AND I THINK WE CAN TURN THE SPOTLIGHT ON OURSELVES AND ASK THE SAME QUESTION. DOES ANYONE OUTSIDE OF OUR IMMEDIATE FAMILY, AND OUTSIDE OF THE PEOPLE WE SEE EVERY SUNDAY AT MASS, KNOW THAT WE ARE CATHOLIC? DO THEY KNOW THAT WE TAKE OUR FAITH SERIOUSLY? DO ANY OF THEM SEE SOMETHING ABOUT US THAT MAKES THEM CURIOUS, MAKES THEM WANT TO KNOW WHY WE ARE DIFFERENT, WHY WE HAVE A SPIRITUAL JOY WHICH COMES FROM KNOWING THAT JESUS LIVES IN US? OR DO WE REALLY BLEND IN WELL? I'VE BEEN THERE. BEFORE I BEGAN TO STUDY TO BE A DEACON, I SELDOM WENT OUT OF MY WAY TO WITNESS MY FAITH. I WAS SORT OF PASSIVE, ALTHOUGH IF SOMEONE SAID SOMETHING PARTICULARLY OFFENSIVE, OR REALLY STUPID, REGARDING WHAT CATHOLICS BELIEVED, I WOULD SPEAK UP. BUT AS PEOPLE BEGAN TO ASK WHAT I WAS DOING GOING TO CLASS FOR THREE HOURS TWICE A WEEK, I HAD TO TELL THEM. TO MY SURPRISE THIS AROUSED MORE CURIOSITY THAN ANIMOSITY. AND PEOPLE WOULD REVEAL THEIR OWN ATTITUDE TOWARDS RELIGION TO ME. AND DIALOG WOULD HAPPEN. AND AS TIME WENT ON, I ACTUALLY LOOKED FORWARD TO THOSE MOMENTS WHEN I COULD WITNESS, ALTHOUGH I'M STILL SHY ABOUT IT, AND COULD BE A LOT BETTER THAN I AM. BUT YOU LEARN, AND AS THE YEARS GO BY, IT BECOMES A LITTLE MORE NATURAL, A LITTLE EASIER.
THE POINT IS THAT WE CANNOT REALLY BE CHRISTIANS UNLESS WE WITNESS. JOHN THE BAPTIST HAD WAITED HIS WHOLE LIFE TO FIND THE MESSIAH, AND THEN GOD SHOWED HIM THE MESSIAH. AND HE IMMEDIATELY BEGAN TO WITNESS THIS, EVEN TO THE POINT OF LOSING HIS OWN DISCIPLES. AND IF WE WERE TO READ AHEAD, WE WOULD HEAR ABOUT ONE OF THOSE DISCIPLES, ANDREW, BECOMING A FOLLOWER OF JESUS, AND THEN RECRUITING HIS BROTHER PETER. AND WE WOULD HEAR ABOUT PHILIP, WHO FOLLOWED JESUS, AND WENT OUT AND WITNESSED TO NATHANIEL, WHO BECAME ANOTHER APOSTLE. AND SO IT WENT, AND SO IT IS STILL MEANT TO GO.
BEING A WITNESS IS NOT AS DIFFICULT AS IT SEEMS. IT MEANS SPEAKING UP, PERHAPS EVEN IN A HUMOROUS WAY, WHEN SOMEONE MAKES A NEGATIVE REMARK ABOUT THE CHURCH OR ITS TEACHINGS. YOU CAN IMAGINE HOW OFTEN JOAN AND I HAD TO FACE COMMENTS ABOUT THE SIZE OF OUR FAMILY. SOMETIMES WE WOULD JUST SAY, “WE'RE JUST OLD FASHIONED CATHOLICS.” IT MEANS VOLUNTEERING A LITTLE EXTRA INFORMATION SOMETIMES – I CAN'T JOIN YOU FOR GOLF SUNDAY UNTIL 9:00 – I'VE GOT TO GET TO MASS. IT MEANS PUBLICLY TAKING AN UNPOPULAR STANCE ONCE IN A WHILE -- “I CAN'T VOTE FOR SO AND SO, BECAUSE HE/SHE SUPPORTS ABORTION.”
BUT IN ADDITION TO THIS KIND OF WITNESSING, THE OTHER KIND IS NECESSARY AS WELL. HOW DOES YOUR FAITH TRANSLATE INTO ACTION? ARE YOU CONSCIENTIOUS ABOUT YOUR WORK? DO YOU MAKE AN EFFORT TO FORGIVE THOSE WHO OFFEND YOU, OR ASK PARDON OF THOSE YOU OFFEND, ESPECIALLY AMONG FAMILY MEMBERS? DO YOU GIVE A LITTLE OF YOURSELF AWAY FOR A GOOD CAUSE? DO YOU VOLUNTEER, DO YOU TAKE PART IN SOME REGULAR ACTIVITY THAT SEEKS TO MAKE THE WORLD A LITTLE BETTER?
WE ARE CALLED TO WITNESS. WE ARE CALLED TO GROW IN HOLY BOLDNESS. SO TODAY LET US PRAY THAT GOD WILL GIVE US THE GRACE AND THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE WITNESSES, SO THAT HIS SALVATION WILL REACH THE ENDS OF THE EARTH, SO THAT WHEN OUR LIVES ARE OVER, WE CAN SAY WITH JOHN THE BAPTIST, “I HAVE SEEN AND TESTIFIED THAT JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD.”