"ARE YOU THE ONE WHO IS TO COME"

Homily for December 16^th, 2015: Luke 7: 18b-23.

AAre you the one who is to come,@ John asks from his prison cell. AOr should we  look for another?@ John=s question reveals a crisis of faith. Was Jesus really the one John had believed and proclaimed him to be -- a man who would come in power and glory? Like everyone who tries to live by faith, John had to discover that faith is not a once-for-all affair. It=s not like learning to ride a bicycle, or memorizing the multiplication table. Faith must be constantly renewed. 

Is that surprising? Don=t we see the same in every relationship based on faith? Marriage is such a relationship. So is priesthood and the life of the vowed religious Sister or Brother. In all these cases promises are made solemnly and for life. But they need to be daily renewed and reaffirmed. For me that means getting out of bed when my clock radio goes off at 5.45 in the morning. Only if I get up then can I be in church by 6.30, so that I can spend a half-hour waiting in silence on the Lord before Mass at 7. Without that time with Him I=d just be spinning my wheels. 

We are gathered here around the Lord=s twin tables of word and sacrament to receive from the One who alone can give it to us the strength each of us needs to renew our commitment to Jesus Christ, and to the life of trusting faith to which he has called us. 

From his own crisis of faith John learned that faith must be constantly renewed. From Jesus= answer to John=s question the Baptist learned something more: that faith is always free. It cannot be compelled, any more than love can be compelled. To his question, AAre you the one who is to come?@ John expected a Yes or No answer. Jesus did not give it to him. Instead he gave John the evidence he needed to work out his own answer: Jesus= miracles of healing.

As people of faith we are called to live in this world aware that we are also citizens of another world: the unseen, spiritual but utterly real world of God, the angels, the saints, and of our beloved dead: our true homeland. Being obedient to that call is difficult. It requires patience. We gather here at these twin tables of word and sacrament so that the Lord can renew our patience when it has worn thin and threatens to give out.