Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle A

JOHN 1:29-34

IN OUR GOSPEL TODAY JOHN THE BAPTIST TWICE SAYS OF JESUS, “I DID NOT KNOW HIM”. WE KNOW THAT IN THE LITERAL SENSE THAT WOULDN'T BE TRUE. WE KNOW MARY AND ELIZABETH WERE RELATED, AND MARY THOUGHT ENOUGH OF ELIZABETH TO TRAVEL, PROBABLY ON FOOT, ABOUT EIGHTY MILES TO HELP HER OUT DURING THE LAST PART OF HER PREGNANCY. AND IT WOULD SEEM UNLIKELY FOR JOHN TO GROW UP WITHOUT HEARING THE STORY OF HOW HIS FATHER LOST HIS ABILITY TO SPEAK, AND WHEN IT CAME BACK, ANNOUNCED THAT JOHN WAS DESTINED TO USHER IN THE MESSIAH. AND CERTAINLY THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF MARY AND ELIZABETH MEETING, AND ELIZABETH RECOGNIZING MARY AS THE MOTHER OF “HER LORD”, THE INFANT LEAPING IN HER WOMB BECAUSE OF THE NEARNESS OF JESUS – CERTAINLY THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN A TOPIC OF CONVERSATION IN THE HOUSEHOLD OF ELIZABETH AND ZACHARY. AND WE KNOW THAT DEVOUT JEWS TRAVELED TO JERUSALEM TO CELEBRATE THE PASSOVER, AS JESUS AND HIS PARENTS DID WHEN HE WAS TWELVE. SURELY JOHN AND JESUS MUST HAVE MET ON SUCH OCCASIONS.

SOME SCHOLARS THINK THAT JESUS SPENT SOME TIME AS ONE OF JOHN'S DISCIPLES; CERTAINLY IN ONE OF THE ACCOUNTS OF JESUS' BAPTISM, JOHN RECOGNIZES THAT IT WOULD BE MORE APPROPRIATE IF JESUS WERE TO BAPTIZE HIM.

BUT EVEN DURING HIS LAST DAYS ON EARTH, WHEN HE WAS IN PRISON, JOHN SENDS SOME OF HIS FOLLOWERS TO ASK JESUS, “ARE YOU THE ONE WHO IS TO COME, OR SHALL WE LOOK FOR ANOTHER?” DID HE STILL “NOT KNOW HIM” DESPITE ALL THAT HAD HAPPENED?

JESUS SAID OF JOHN, “THERE HAS NEVER BEEN ONE BORN OF WOMAN GREATER THAN JOHN”. BUT HE WENT ON TO SAY THAT “THE ONE WHO IS LEAST IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS GREATER THAN HE.” WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE? JOHN WAS A HEROIC FIGURE, SACRIFICING EVERYTHING FOR GOD. AND YET JESUS SAYS THAT YOU AND I ARE GREATER.

THE DIFFERENCE, I GUESS, MUST BE THE GIFTS WE RECEIVE AT BAPTISM. ONE OF THESE, OF COURSE, IS THE SUPERNATURAL VIRTUE OF FAITH, THE CHARACTER GIVEN OUR SOULS WHICH ALLOWS US TO KNOW JESUS. WITHOUT THIS GIFT, EVEN IF WE WERE TO ENCOUNTER JESUS IN THE FLESH, EVEN IF WE WERE TO WITNESS HIM RAISING THE DEAD, WE WOULD NOT REALLY KNOW HIM. WE WOULD CONCLUDE, PERHAPS, THAT HE WAS A PROPHET, A MIRACLE WORKER, A GOOD AND HOLY MAN – WE MIGHT EVEN CONCLUDE THAT HE WAS ONE OF GOD'S FAVORITES – AND WE WOULD BE SAYING WHAT THE KORAN SAYS ABOUT HIM. MOSLEMS AND UNITARIANS BELIEVE THAT ABOUT JESUS. JOHN WAS NEVER GIVEN THE SUPERNATURAL VIRTUE OF FAITH, AT LEAST WHILE HE WAS ON THE EARTH, AND WITHOUT IT, EVEN WHEN HE THOUGHT HE WAS FINALLY GETTING TO KNOW WHO JESUS WAS, HE STILL DID NOT KNOW HIM.

YOU AND I KNOW JESUS; AT LEAST WE HAVE THE POWER TO KNOW HIM. POPE FRANCIS TALKS ABOUT CHRISTIANITY BEING FUNDAMENTALLY ABOUT AN ENCOUNTER WITH A PERSON, THE PERSON OF JESUS, AN ENCOUNTER THAT THREATENS TO CHANGE US. AND NOBODY LIKES CHANGE, SO I THINK THERE IS A TENDENCY IN MANY CATHOLICS TO BACK AWAY FROM THAT ENCOUNTER, TO RETREAT INTO A SITUATION WHERE WE RESIST KNOWING HIM. AND WE HOPE THAT IF WE AVOID SIN, AT LEAST BIG ONES, AND PARTICIPATE IN THE SACRAMENTS, WE'LL BE OK. AND ONLY GOD KNOWS HOW MANY PEOPLE RECEIVED THE SUPERNATURAL VIRTUES AT BAPTISM, BUT NEVER EXERCISED THEM, AND NO LONGER EVEN RETAIN A CONNECTION TO THE CHURCH.

EVEN THE LEAST IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS GREATER THAN JOHN THE BAPTIST, BECAUSE OF OUR POTENTIAL TO KNOW JESUS AS HE REALLY IS. BUT FAITH NEEDS TO BE NURTURED. AND WHAT DO WE MEAN BY SUPERNATURAL FAITH?

WE HAVE A POOR UNDERSTANDING OF FAITH IN THIS DAY AND AGE. FOR SOME OF US, IT MEANS BELIEVING IN THINGS THAT CAN'T BE PROVEN. FOR OTHERS, IT IS A CRUTCH, A CONSOLATION TO HOLD ON TO WHEN THINGS GET ROUGH. WHEN WE TALK ABOUT SHARING OUR FAITH, WHAT DO WE MEAN? WHAT DO WE HAVE TO SHARE?

POPE FRANCIS WRITES THAT “ IN FAITH, CHRIST IS NOT SIMPLY THE ONE IN WHOM WE BELIEVE, THE SUPREME MANIFESTATION OF GOD’S LOVE; HE IS ALSO THE ONE WITH WHOM WE ARE UNITED PRECISELY IN ORDER TO BELIEVE. FAITH DOES NOT MERELY GAZE AT JESUS, BUT SEES THINGS AS JESUS HIMSELF SEES THEM, WITH HIS OWN EYES: IT IS A PARTICIPATION IN HIS WAY OF SEEING.”

JOHN THE BAPTIST, THE LAST AND GREATEST OF PROPHETS, WAS IN FACT LIKE ALL THE PROPHETS AND HOLY PEOPLE BEFORE HIM, NOT ABLE TO “SEE THINGS AS JESUS HIMSELF SEES THEM”, BECAUSE JESUS HAD NOT YET COMPLETED HIS MISSION ON EARTH. BUT YOU AND I HAVE THE CAPACITY TO SEE THINGS AS JESUS SEES THEM. POPE FRANCIS TALKS ABOUT THE LINK BETWEEN FAITH AND LOVE. IF WE LOVE, WE WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT WHOM WE LOVE; AND AS WE KNOW MORE ABOUT HIM, WE LOVE HIM MORE. FAITH, THEREFORE, CAN NEVER BE STATIC; IT'S EITHER GROWING OR FADING AWAY.

HOW DO WE PARTICIPATE IN JESUS' WAY OF SEEING? WE NEED TO SEE EVERYTHING THROUGH THE TWIN LENSES OF THE INCARNATION AND RESURRECTION. GOD REALLY DID COME TO DWELL AMONG US. THIS MEANS THAT THE WORLD WE LIVE IN HAS VALUE; CHRISTIANS SHOULD NOT ONLY BE INVOLVED IN THE WORLD, BUT SHOULD VALUE ALL OF CREATION. AND JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD, REALLY AND TRULY, TELLING US IN THAT ACTION THAT HUMAN BEINGS ARE NOT DEFINED BY THIS LIFE, BUT AS LONG AS THEY LIVE, HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO MAKE THE SAME JOURNEY THROUGH DEATH THAT JESUS DID.

TRUE, SUPERNATURAL FAITH CANNOT BE PRESENT IN ISOLATION; IT MUST BE LIVED IN THE CHURCH. SAINT PAUL REMINDS US THAT WE ARE MEMBERS OF THE BODY OF CHRIST; HE IS ALWAYS THE MEASURE AGAINST WHICH WE MEASURE OURSELVES. THE CHURCH HOLDS UP FOR US THE MIRROR IN WHICH WE SEE CHRIST'S IMAGE IN OURSELVES AND IN EACH OTHER, AND SHE DOES THIS FOR ONLY ONE REASON – SO THAT WE CAN JOIN OURSELVES MORE COMPLETELY TO CHRIST OUR HEAD.

IN PRACTICAL TERMS, WE CATHOLIC CHRISTIANS ARE CALLED TO SEE THE WORLD AS CHRIST SEES IT, AND THAT MEANS THAT WE NEED TO SEE IT AS THE CHURCH, HIS BODY, SEES IT. THE WAY WE SEE THE WORLD MOVES US TO ACTION; AND WHEN WE ACT OUT OF THE VISION JESUS HAS FOR US, OUR FAITH IS DEEPENED. THIS PROCESS OF LEARNING FROM THE CHURCH, ACTING IN THE WORLD BASED UPON WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED, AND THEN LOOKING FOR THE PRESENCE OF JESUS IN THIS PROCESS, IS HOW WE GROW IN OUR FAITH.

IT'S A NEW YEAR. THIS YEAR IS A GOOD TIME FOR YOU AND I TO STRENGTHEN OUR FAITH. PLEASE THINK ABOUT HOW IT WILL BE A YEAR FROM NOW – WILL YOU HAVE CHANGED ANYTHING ABOUT YOURSELF? WILL YOUR FAITH BE STRONGER? WILL YOU BE IN BETTER SHAPE TO BE A REAL APOSTLE THEN? WHAT PRACTICAL STEPS CAN YOU AND I TAKE SO THAT WE CAN SAY, “I DO KNOW HIM; I SEE THE WORLD WITH HIS EYES; I SEE HIS PRESENCE IN MY NEIGHBOR; GOD REALLY DWELLS WITH US. JESUS REALLY ROSE FROM THE DEAD SO THAT I CAN DO SO AS WELL.