Do you believe in “Once upon a time”?
“Once upon a time, long ago, there was this strange man who lived in the desert. He wouldn’t eat ordinary food, nor wear ordinary clothes. Instead, he ate locust (and they weren’t even chocolate covered), and he wore the scratchiest, itchiest tunic you ever could imagine.”
Hopefully, you recognized this story for what actually was – a composite retelling of the introduction of John the Baptist in the gospels. I wonder, though, if in many ways we ‘hear’ all the gospel stories just like we hear all the stories that begin with the words: “Once upon a time…” The child within each of us settles down in eager anticipation, because we know what is coming next. A story! A nice tale. Something to get lost in and wander about in, like the Harry Potter series. Something, which, although it might be true, certainly is not real. And certainly, nothing we need change our lives over…
I think that can be one of the biggest dangers of the Christmas story, and even the readings of our Advent season. If we are not careful, we hear these readings only through the lens of “Once Upon a Time”… But to do so is to miss the exact point that Luke was trying to make us understand. Luke situates the coming of the Baptizer very precisely in the unfolding of time and history. It was the 15th year of empire of Tiberius Caesar, not Augustus Caesar; it was this governor Pilate, not that governor; this tetrarch Herod, son of Herod the great, and who had a brother named Philip who also was in power; during this high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas. Luke is not in the ONCE UPON A TIME genre of storytelling at all. But with a laser like scalpel, he cuts through the layers of history to pin point one exact, precise moment in the history in the unfolding of the world.
And then to further pin it down, it is the preaching of ONE man, John – the son of Zachariah, who begins it. And even before that, Luke tells us of the yes of one virgin, at one spot, in the small town of Nazareth, where it took flesh. In the church of the Annunciation, one can read the words: Verbum caro factum est HIC. The word became flesh HERE. Not over there. Not down the street. Not in somebody else’s town, but right HERE. And whether you call that the scandal of particularity, or just the shocking news of salvation, the heart of our faith is never a “Once upon a time” view of the world.
Here is the kicker about that.
If God chose exactly when, in the unfolding of history, his son would be born, do you think he stopped then, and brushed his hands off, and then left us on our own? The eyes of faith invite us to trust that we here at this time, on this day, in this country (and not another one) and this state (and not another) and this town, and this parish, in this year 2018 PRECISELY because of God’s good timing and plan.
And that means that we,
- who have now witnessed the tragic loss of life in the wildfires in CA,
- and the most recent mass shooting in the synagogue in Pittsburgh;
- and have just seen the list of those credibly accused of abuse in the Jesuit order
– we are alive here and now PRECISELY because God planned us to be here. God planned for us to be here! We are not living in ONCE UPON A TIME land, but right here and right now because of the plan of God. God needs my talents and abilities and passions and dreams precisely here and now, the second Sunday of Advent, here at St. Justin Martyr parish, in the year 2018. And the clarion call of reform going back to the prophet Isaiah is still directed right at us, here and now, to make straight the paths and ready the way of the Lord.
SOOO, two things.
The Archbishop sent a letter to every Catholic household in the Archdiocese. And he opened a new section of the Archdiocesan website called PROMISE TO PROTECT, letting you know every policy and procedure in that is in place; letting you know what has been done and what is still to be done. And he is ASKING for feedback. Asking for critique. Asking to know what is not there that should be. And what is there that needs to be even better and stronger. Read that and let me know. [pastor@stjustinmartyr.org or 314-635-3505]
And spend a bit of prayer this week with this very practical question, with an eye toward the time between now and Christmas: If God really has a plan for me, and I am living HERE, and NOW because of that plan, then, What ONE thing is GOD inviting me, THIS DAY, THIS ADVENT, to make sure I accomplish?
I confess, it is easier to live in the once upon a time world. Because then we don’t have to do anything, except be entertained; except be a spectator in the story. “Once upon a time” lets us off the hook. RIGHT HERE and RIGHT NOW tells us there is work for us to do. Once upon a time? I don’t think so…