I’m not a very musical sort; even though my wife is a skilled organist and pianist. Our kids all took piano or violin lessons, but nothing stuck too much. My youngest daughter and my son both did well enough to play as substitute organists. But that was about it. They are all grown up now and I don’t see my kids that often. We all get together once a year and they introduced me to karaoke a few years back. And my son did an excellent rendition of Billy Joel’s song, “You may be right!” along with some great dance moves. And my daughter did a picture perfect rendition of “Me and Bobby McGee”. The point is, up to that moment, I didn’t know that part of their lives.
John the Baptist was the cousin of Jesus and recognized him before his own birth -- he lept in his mother’s womb, it says. Later, John refers to Jesus as the one “of whom I am not worthy to untie his sandals.” In the description of John baptizing Jesus, we hear him say, “You should be baptizing me” and Jesus insists that John baptize him because that fulfills what is supposed to happen. And today, of course, he says, “I did not know him.” And then, John testifies that Jesus is the Son of God, having witnessed the Spirit coming down upon him and remaining. And when you line everything up chronologically, you see that even when John is in prison awaiting his execution, his knowledge of Jesus seems to waver a bit, when he sends his disciples to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
I think I’m a lot like John. When I was a little kid Jesus was kind of like Superman, without the flashy costume. Who wouldn’t want to walk on water and heal people and rise from the dead? When I got to college, a good Catholic college, I took courses in comparative religion, which got me to thinking Jesus is kind of like Buddah or Mohammed; and I took a course in scripture in which I learned that the gospel writers were not exactly writing history -- By the time John wrote his gospel the church had been around for 70 years or so, and were telling the story of Jesus to reflect their theology. A protestant friend asked whether I have a personal relationship with Jesus? I don’t quite know what that means, and if it means I speak to Him, I do; but if it means he speaks back to me, I’m not sure. Down through the years there have been times when I could feel his presence. In my old age I take it on faith that he is my only hope and I throw myself on his mercy. So I’m like John, and maybe you are also. And I think that’s not such a bad thing. We need to explore our relationship to Jesus. He said many times that our salvation depended upon faith in him, not just agreeing to his teachings, not knowing the bible backwards and forwards, not even leading a good and blameless life. He said, “He who believes in me will not die”. So anyone who follows Christ needs to struggle with who he is to me, who he is to you. John the Baptist struggled, I struggle.
I’ve always been a Catholic, a practicing Catholic. I didn’t fall away in college or during my career. I’ve missed mass on Sunday twice, once when I was about eight and my parents had to leave early Sunday morning for a trip they had to make -- and you could only fulfill your obligation on Sunday in those days -- and the other time when I was in Puerto Rico and was suffering from Sun poisoning and a lack of English speakers in my hotel. And long ago I decided that the Catholic Church would be my guide; it would tell me what Jesus wanted of me. It isn’t a matter of feeling, of sensing the presence of God, although that has happened now and then. The Catholic church is the basic way I relate to Jesus Christ -- it’s the organization he founded to pass on his teachings, to give us access to his power to forgive sins, to make it possible for me to be born again, to have my sins forgiven. I believe the Church is the body of Christ. So today is a good day to look at our relationship with Jesus. It should be changing, it should be expanding, just like a relationship with anyone we love. And we Catholics have a wonderful guide to that relationship in our Church -- Despite flawed leaders, the Church is a miracle.
Do I believe you have to be Catholic to get to heaven? No, and neither does the Church teach that. Jesus told us that he is the way, the truth and the life. He told us that if we want to have life, we have to eat his flesh and drink his blood. Saint Peter proclaimed, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” What the Church does teach is that everyone who gets to heaven is saved through Jesus Christ; and that the Church has all that is necessary for salvation. This week think about your own relationship to Jesus as well as your relationship to the Church he founded.
