Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

JOHN 1:29-34
SOMETIMES IT SEEMS AS THOUGH SOME LUCKY INDIVIDUALS HAVE A DESTINY. WHEN YOU LOOK AT THEIR LIVES, THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS, IT SEEMS AS THOUGH IT WAS ALL PREORDAINED. WOULDN'T IT BE WONDERFUL TO BE LIKE THAT – TO ALWAYS SEE WHERE YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO GO. TO KNOW WITH CERTAINTY WHERE GOD WAS LEADING YOU. THE VATICAN JUST ANNOUNCED THAT POPE JOHN PAUL II WILL BE BEATIFIED THE SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. IT'S VERY EARLY IN THE PROCESS, BUT THE OBLIGATORY MIRACLE HAS BEEN CERTIFIED, AND HIS LIFE HAS BEEN GONE OVER WITH A FINE TOOTHED COMB. AND JOHN PAUL SEEMS TO HAVE HAD ONE OF THOSE LIVES OF DESTINY. IT SEEMS LIKE EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED WAS PREDESTINED, AND THE OUTCOME WAS THAT HE BECAME ONE OF OUR GREATEST POPES, AND INDEED, MANY FEEL THAT HIS LEADERSHIP SAVED THE CHURCH. I DON'T KNOW HOW HIS LIFE LOOKED TO JOHN PAUL II; BUT I THINK WE DO KNOW WHAT HIS LIFE LOOKED LIKE TO JOHN THE BAPTIST.
THINK OF THE THINGS WE KNOW. HE WAS JESUS' COUSIN, AND EVEN BEFORE HIS BIRTH, WE ARE TOLD THAT HE REACTED TO JESUS' PRESENCE. LAST SUNDAY WE HEARD ABOUT HOW, WHEN JESUS CAME TO HIM FOR BAPTISM, JOHN EXCLAIMED THAT HE SHOULD BE BAPTIZED BY JESUS. IT SEEMS AS THOUGH JOHN ALWAYS HAD AN INTUITION THAT HE WAS SUPPOSED TO PREPARE THE WAY FOR SOMEONE; HE COMPARED HIMSELF TO A VOICE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS. HE TOLD THOSE WHO HEARD HIM THAT SOMEONE WAS COMING WHO WAS GREATER THAN HIM, SO GREAT THAT HE WASN'T WORTHY TO UNTIE HIS SANDAL STRAP. BUT WHEN YOU READ FURTHER INTO WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT JOHN, THERE IS UNCERTAINTY. TODAY HE ADMITS TWICE THAT HE DID NOT KNOW JESUS, THE ONE FOR WHOM HE WAS TO PREPARE THE WAY. AND IN ANOTHER STORY HE SENDS HIS DISCIPLES TO JESUS TO ASK “ARE YOU THE ONE WHO IS TO COME OR SHALL WE LOOK FOR ANOTHER?”
JOHN KNEW HE WAS GIVEN A MISSION BY GOD. WE CAN ALMOST IMAGINE THAT BEFORE HE STARTED HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY, HE MUST HAVE DONE A LOT OF THINKING AND SEARCHING. HIS FATHER WAS A PRIEST, AFTER ALL, SO JOHN PROBABLY HAD A DECENT EDUCATION. WE KNOW HE SPENT TIME IN THE DESERT, JUST LIKE JESUS DID AFTER HIS BAPTISM. AS HE SEARCHED TO KNOW GOD'S WILL FOR HIMSELF, HE LIVED IN THE DESERT LIKE A HERMIT, AND WHEN HE CAME BACK TO CIVILIZATION, HE LOOKED LIKE A WILD MAN. AND AT EVERY MOMENT, EVEN THOUGH HE ACTED BOLDLY, AND EVEN THOUGH WHEN WE LOOK ACROSS THOSE TWO THOUSAND YEARS IT SEEMS AS THOUGH HIS LIFE WAS SCRIPTED, AND THAT EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED WAS ALMOST PREDESTINED, THE GOSPELS GIVE US A VERY DIFFERENT PICTURE – A JOHN WHO DESPITE HIS DEDICATION, HIS COURAGE, HIS HOLINESS, DOESN'T RECOGNIZE JESUS. OF COURSE HE DOES, EVENTUALLY, BUT EVEN IN HIS LAST DAYS IN HEROD'S PRISON, HE'S NOT QUITE SURE. AND I WONDER IF, WHEN JOHN WENT TO HIS EXECUTION, OR WHEN JOHN PAUL II REALIZED THAT HIS DEATH WAS NEAR, THESE GREAT SAINTS MAY HAVE HAD A MOMENT OF UNCERTAINTY, A WISH FOR CLARITY – DID THEIR LIVES REALLY HAVE MEANING? DID THEY REALLY HAVE A DESTINY? I SUSPECT THAT THIS IS A QUESTION THAT EVERYONE HAS AT THE END OF THEIR LIVES – DID I MATTER? DID MY LIFE MAKE A DIFFERENCE? DID I DO WHAT GOD WANTED ME TO DO, OR IS THERE A GOD AT ALL?
IN THE END, JOHN RECOGNIZED THAT JESUS WAS THE MESSIAH. TODAY WE HEAR HIM TELLING THIS TO HIS OWN DISCIPLES. BUT LATER HE'LL ASK AGAIN; LIKE ALL OF US, JOHN GOES FROM MORE CERTAINTY TO LESS CERTAINTY AND BACK AGAIN. IT IS NOT GIVEN TO ANY HUMAN BEING TO KNOW, REALLY KNOW, WHAT HE IS PUT ON THIS EARTH FOR.
BUT JOHN PAUL II AND JOHN THE BAPTIST SEEMED TO SHARE A CHARACTERISTIC; AT EACH JUNCTURE IN THEIR LIVES, WHEN THEY HAD TO MAKE CHOICES, THEY SEEMED TO MAKE “INSPIRED” CHOICES. THIS DOESN'T MEAN THAT THEY HEARD VOICES IN THEIR HEADS. IT DOES MEAN THAT WHEN THEY MADE CHOICES, THEY USUALLY STEPPED OUT AND TOOK A CHANCE ON GOD. JOHN PAUL CHOSE TO BECOME A PRIEST IN AN ERA WHEN THAT WAS DANGEROUS AND PUT HIM ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE LAW. JOHN THE BAPTIST COULD HAVE BECOME A MEMBER OF THE HEREDITARY PRIESTHOOD OF ISRAEL, AND LIVED A LIFE OF SERVICE; INSTEAD, HE CHOSE TO LIVE IN THE DESERT AS A HERMIT. JOHN PAUL WASN'T AFRAID, THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE, TO SPEAK THE TRUTH TO THE NAZI'S, THE COMMUNISTS, TO AMERICAN PRESIDENTS, TO POWERFUL PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE WORLD; JOHN THE BAPTIST NEVER HESITATED TO SPEAK THE TRUTH REGARDLESS OF CONSEQUENCES.
SO BEING A SAINT IS NOT THE SAME AS LIVING A LIFE OF CERTAINTY, A LIFE OF DESTINY. IT IS JUST BEING OPEN TO INSPIRATION EVERY TIME A CHOICE HAS TO BE MADE. LIKE JOHN THE BAPTIST, WE MAY ONLY HAVE A SMALL PART OF THE TRUTH, AND WE MAY HAVE TO STEP OUT INTO THE DARKNESS WITHOUT GOOD EVIDENCE, WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT WILL HAPPEN.
EVERY CHRISTIAN IS GIVEN ALL HE OR SHE NEEDS TO KNOW TO MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICES. IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE WILL BE GIVEN ALL THE INFORMATION THAT WE THINK WE NEED; IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE WILL SEE THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR CHOICES, OR THE RESULTS OF OUR ACTIONS. IN FACT, MOST OF THE TIME, WE DON'T GET THAT PRIVILEGE. WE ARE ONLY GIVEN WHAT WE NEED TO MAKE A CHOICE, A CHOICE FOR GOD OR A CHOICE NOT IN LINE WITH GOD'S WILL. AND EVEN IF WE MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICES, WE WON'T REALLY KNOW THEY WERE RIGHT UNTIL THE NEXT LIFE.
SO WHAT TO DO? IN A WAY, THIS IS VERY LIBERATING. WE AREN'T RESPONSIBLE FOR HOW OUR LIVES TURN OUT. WE AREN'T RESPONSIBLE FOR ACCOMPLISHING SOMETHING, OR DOING SOME GREAT WORK FOR GOD. WE AREN'T GIVEN THE BIG PICTURE, THE PLAN OF GOD FOR OUR LIVES. BUT WE ARE GIVEN AT EVERY MOMENT, ENOUGH INFORMATION TO MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE, AND OUR WHOLE LIVES AS CHRISTIANS CONSIST OF LISTENING, OF PRAYING, OF PURIFYING OUR MOTIVES AND OUR INTENTIONS, SO THAT THE NEXT TIME WE MAKE A CHOICE, WE WILL MAKE THE ONE GOD WANTS US TO MAKE. GOD ALWAYS GIVES US A CHOICE, AND HE RESPECTS OUR FREE WILL. BUT HE GIVES US WHAT WE NEED TO MAKE OUR CHOICES. WE MAY NEVER SEE WHAT HE WANTS FOR US, WE MAY, LIKE JOHN THE BAPTIST, HAVE TO ADMIT THAT “WE DID NOT KNOW HIM”. BUT OUR PART IN THE WORLD TO COME IS ASSURED IF WE MAKE OUR CHOICES EACH TIME WITH PRAYER, WITH THOUGHT, AND WITH UNSELFISHNESS; IF WE MAKE THOSE CHOICES BECAUSE WE HAVE WORKED TO UNDERSTAND THE WILL OF GOD. AND WE WON'T HAVE CERTAINTY, EXCEPT THE CERTAINTY OF KNOWING THAT GOD WILL TAKE OUR LIVES AND KNIT THEM INTO HIS GRAND PLAN FOR HIS KINGDOM, AND WE WILL SEE HOW OUR CHOICES REALLY MATTERED SOME DAY. AND WE WILL REALIZE, LIKE JOHN THE BAPTIST, LIKE JOHN PAUL II, THAT GOD WAS WORKING IN OUR LIVES, EVEN THOUGH WE DID NOT KNOW HIM.