Do you own any action figures? They’ve been around since G.I. Joe in 1946… including Star Wars, Spiderman, or The Fantastic Four. Today’s gospel brings us a real-life action figure: John the Baptist. John was prepared by God in the desert, rough and ready for his task: to announce Jesus to the world. His message? “Reform your lives! The reign of God is at hand.”
John says, “Turn away from your sins!” But today, he sees dishonest Pharisees and Sadducees coming up for baptism to impress the public. John doesn’t pussyfoot around. “You brood of vipers! … Give some evidence that you mean to reform!” The Pharisees put on a good outward show, but they had a total lack of spiritual hospitality. They were proud of being Abraham’s descendants, but they didn’t “walk his walk” by opening their hearts to welcome Jesus. And John knew they had no intention of reforming!
How often are we prone to the same temptations? Christmas is Jesus’ ultimate act of hospitality, and Advent is our time to bring Jesus’ “ultimate hospitality” to every situation we find ourselves in; bringing greater warmth, openness, love, and welcome everywhere.
What if, during Advent, we saw every conversation as an opportunity to radiate Christ’s hospitality? What if we stripped the complaints out of our talk and practiced the phrase, “Tell me more”… and then listened with patient encouragement? Hospitality is an action word! Do I welcome unexpected changes… new ideas or people into my life? Or do I feel annoyed or project a “back off or else!” attitude?
May God, the source of patience, give us the same point of view as Jesus this Advent!
This Thursday, December 8th, is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, a holy day of obligation for all Catholics. We celebrate on this day that Our Blessed Mother, Mary, was conceived without sin so that she could eventually become the Mother of God.
Mass for the holy day will be celebrated:
Wednesday, December 7th 5:00 p.m. at St. Thomas More Church
Thursday, December 8th 8:30 a.m. at St. John Capistran Church
8:45 a.m. at St. Thomas More Church (school mass)
11:30 a.m. at St. Thomas More Church
7:00 p.m. at St. John Capistran Church
SPAM ALERT: Recently there has been an increased number of spam requests, supposedly coming from me, asking for gift cards or contributions for various reasons. Please do not reply to these requests. They are bogus. I will never ask for any donation by text or email. Furthermore, I do not share my phone number with parishioners, you will never receive communication from me in this manner. Thank you, Bishop Mark