Bishop Glen John Provost
Bishop of Lake Charles
Third Sunday of Advent
December 15, 2013
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
“And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.” Matthew 11:6
Religious faith is under attack today. I don’t think I am exaggerating. What masquerades at times as compassion and equality is really an attempt to redefine fundamentals of human existence—the redefinition of marriage and government regulations that define what a church is are notable examples. Many today seem to say, faith has a place, as long as you keep it to yourself and practice it only on Sundays within the confines of the four walls of your church. But faith defies restrictions, much less restrictions imposed upon it by human governments. All of our most recent popes have reminded us of this—Blessed John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis. Religious faith is never a private affair. And in the words of Blessed John Paul II, once reference to God is removed, everything becomes profoundly distorted.
I am reminded of this as I hear the first verse of our Gospel today. “When John the Baptist heard in prison of the works of the Christ…” (Matthew 11:2). John the Baptist was in prison, because he had preached the truth to the secular authority. Herod, the king, feared John who had upset his wife, Herodias. Herodias had been married first to one of Herod’s half brothers. By taking Herodias as his wife, Herod had offended Jewish law (cf. Matthew 14, Leviticus 18 and 20). Because we are dealing here with real historic figures, we know from another historical source in the same century (Josephus, Antiquities, 18, 5, 2 §§ 116-119) that Herod feared John because he thought John was growing too influential and might lead a rebellion. This has been the history of martyrs from the beginning. John’s faith in God motivated him to speak the truth. Religious faith suffers consequences when it speaks the truth in the face of a cynical secular authority.
Cynicism is distrusting or disparaging the motives of others (cf. Random House Dictionary). Herod could not see the truth because he saw in John only one thing—a threat. Governments that restrict religious practice and impose discipline upon the exercise of conscience are merely an extension of the same cynicism. Both John and Jesus, I think, understood this.
For this reason, Jesus speaks of John and his integrity. “What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind?” (Matthew 11:7). In other words, if you want ambivalence or equivocation—we might say today, “political correctness”—do not look for it in John. Jesus continues, “Then what did you go out to see? Someone dressed in fine clothing?” (Matthew 11:8). People dressed this way live in royal palaces. No, John doesn’t tell you what you want to hear. He is a prophet and more than a prophet. He is a messenger of God. In the iconography of the Eastern Church, St. John is often depicted with wings, because he is a divine messenger. Jesus emphasizes two qualities of John: his refusal to bend to popular opinion and his humility.
Did you see a few weeks ago Pope Francis embracing the man extremely deformed by a severe type of fibrosis? Covered with tumors that had altered his human features, the man was hugged and kissed by Pope Francis. The man said afterwards that he felt as though he were in heaven. We cannot look at such pictures and not feel challenged. What would we have done? I am left speechless. Pope Francis had embraced the least in the kingdom of the world and made him touch the kingdom of heaven. For people of faith, one cannot help but get the message. For cynics, they are faced with the humility of faith.
Jesus knew that in calling attention to John as his herald He would suffer an even more painful fate. You see John was beheaded, and in the ancient world beheading was a merciful way to die because it was quick. Crucifixion was another matter. Excruciating, prolonged and humiliating, to die on the cross was a more shameful death.
Jesus who invites us to take up our cross and follow Him leads the way into the kingdom of heaven. There may be no one greater born of woman than John, but the kingdom of heaven is something else. To be born into the kingdom of heaven requires an even greater witness than John the Baptist, and “the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than [John]” (Matthew 11:11). The children of the kingdom of heaven are called to the witness of the cross. The world and its cynics will never understand the witness of the cross.
John the Baptist helps us look to Christmas. He is the prophet who points to the Word of God in its fullest expression. There is no reed bending in the wind or fine clothing here. Pointing to Christmas overreaches the manger of Bethlehem. The finger of John the Baptist points beyond the kneeling shepherds and the gifts of the Magi. There is no Christianity without the cross challenging a cynical world. Looking beyond the manger, we see Calvary in the distance.