For daily readings, see http://www.usccb.org/nab/120708.shtml
This is probably just my insecurity speaking, but sometimes I feel like I get more stares wearing clerics than do people with tattoos, unusual piercings and outrageous hair. Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining. I love wearing my clerics almost anywhere except to sporting events, when I really really just want to watch the game and enjoy it for a few hours before going back to work. I love the unpredictable interactions that come my way because people can see by what I'm wearing that I'm a priest. I love the witness that wearing the Roman collar gives toward what I believe, without my even having to speak. I have to confess, however, that it was hard to predict before I started wearing clerics how counter-cultural being a priest really is. Although there are a few people who really don't care, generally speaking almost everyone takes a second look when they see a priest. As colorful and diverse and weird as the KU campus is, I wonder sometimes who would garner more interest walking down Jayhawk boulevard - me or John the Baptist, with his camel hair tunic and leather belt. I'm sure he would draw more attention than me at lunch, however, for I would probably opt for a chicken sandwich over an entree of locusts and wild honey!
Although we as priests do not wear a uniform anything like that worn by John the Baptist, we do wear something unusual, something that denotes that we have been called by God to give a prophetic witness that God is real and that He is closer than people usually think. St. Peter says in his letter for today that just because Jesus has been in his ascended 'semi-retirement' for some time now is no reason to think that He will be delayed in returning. St. Peter puts it this way - with the Lord, who is the maker of time, one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day. To paraphrase, just because 2000 years have passed since the Lord's ascension, does not mean that you and I will have all the time we need to get ready for the Lord's coming. We should prepare with the anticipation that He is coming back in a day or two. This is the joyful expectation that Advent rekindles in us, the anticipation that John the Baptist the wild man went out to proclaim. It is the expectation that a revolution is near, a revolution far beyond what President-elect Obama might be able to usher in. It is a revolution proclaiming that the coming of the Lord will be the source of everlasting prosperity and peace.
It is true. We are easily tempted to think that the Lord is not as involved as He could be or should be. We wonder why He is keeping his distance given the state of the world. As St. Peter assures us, however, the Lord patience, which is directed toward our salvation is a gift that should not be confused with His being distant. Because the Lord is patient, we should not be crushed if Jesus doesn't make it back in the next hour or so. Yet Advent is the time when we as Christians stop asking for more time. Asking for an extension from God is not a good spiritual strategy. In fact, it is a recipe for disasater, for we all know that the longer we put things off, the greater the possibility that we will never achieve them. All of us can think of hundreds of things we have always meant to do but never did because there seemed to be plenty of time. In reality there is never enough time. So actually Advent is the season when we ask the Lord to come back sooner rather than later. During Advent, we heed the advice of prophets like John the Baptist, who appear begging us not to ask the Lord for an extension, but that the deadline be moved up. Prepare the way of the Lord. Get ready. Make straight His paths. The Lord is coming soon. The expectation of Advent is meant to save us from going through life lackadaisically and in fear that He might come back before we're ready.
The Lord, whenever He comes, will bring good and not evil, and so there is no need for us to fear. Advent tells us however, not to be the kind of simplistic people who save trying to become holy as the last project of our lives, right before we die. Not only may we not have enough time. More importantly, we will miss the fun and the excitement, not to mention the fulfillment and happiness that belongs to one who waits in great anticipation for the coming of the Lord. Don't give in to the narrative that says it is more fun to disobey God now - you can always ask for forgiveness later. No, sin while bringing a brief moment of excitement can never compare with the excitement of living a life in preparation for seeing God, the one who made us and the one whom we were made to love above all things, face to face. God is coming to show His face to us. He is coming to be born among us in Bethlehem. This is the mystery of the Incarnation that we prepare to celebrate with unparalleled joy, if only we do not put our preparations off until tomorrow.
Priests and those consecrated to God are those who are called to live this Advent expectation. They are those chosen by Jesus to anticipate His coming in a special way, and to show the world the joy that comes from one whose heart and life has been redeemed by Jesus Christ. It is because of this anticipation of seeing Christ, and wanting to be the first in line to see Him face to face, that compels priests and religious to put their lives on fast-forward so to speak. Priests and religious by their vows make a sacrifice, and take one additional step out of this world that is passing away, not because they hate the world, but because they look forward to its being redeemed by the coming of Jesus Christ. Like John the Baptist, priests and religious are called to give an especially strong prophetic witness, to those who wonder why they would choose not to be married, for example, that the Lord is close. Priests and religious are wholeheartedly dedicated to preparing the world for the definitive coming of its Savior.
Let us pray for all those who inspired by the example of John the Baptist, are considering a radical gift of self in reponse to a call to be a priest or to be a consecrated religious. Let us pray that those who have chosen to follow the Lord more precisely in the priesthood and religious life will be able to do so all the more courageously. Mary, Queen of Vocations, pray for us! +m
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