Reflection for December 10
“The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Son of God.”
Wow! No angels or shepherds, no wise men. Instead, we are confronted with John the Baptist in the wilderness, demanding repentance. The word is metanoia which means a change of heart, changing one’s mind. And in our Advent season, he cries out to us. There is always something in our lives urging us to change our minds. Always a new inspiration.
And his voice cannot be silenced even though Herod tried by beheading him; here we are 2000 years later, listening to him. Perhaps this mystery is less about the Child and more about the One who is coming at the end of time.
Even though John is the son of a priest, he does not deliver his message in the Temple but on the banks of the Jordan River, so significant for Israel, reminding the crowds of their departure from a past life and the possibility of beginning something new. John urges the people to cross over into God’s forgiveness through a ritual baptism of metanoia.
In the Puerto Rican city of San Juan, which is named for John, there stands a huge sculpture of him located between the ocean and a highway, very well-traveled in this large city. The Baptist stands with his head bent and his eyes looking down the highway at all of us struggling to remain faithful in the midst of wars, persecutions, and injustices. But one arm is raised high with a determined finger pointing to heaven, expressing the paradox of John: the man who belonged to the wilderness with the Jordan crowds; yet at the same time, the heaven-directed prophet. He is both engaged and disengaged -- the paradox of the Advent season.
Day after day, our lives must be directed to heaven; yet, at the same time, we must also be involved in the conflicts, struggles, relationships, and difficulties of our lives here.
May this season of Advent keep us grounded in our daily lives but also remind us of the future coming of the Stronger One who gives us the courage to continually cross that Jordan River, embracing the metanoia and arriving at a new beginning.
Sr. Maryann Cantlon, C.S.J.