[1]“Are you ready?” the
instructor asked. I remember the heart racing fear I felt, stepping to the open
door of the plane. The sun was bright, the
sound of the wind and the engine were loud. My heart was pounding as the tandem instructor
said even louder, “Are you ready?” In my mind, the months of waiting, co-worker
hype, rock songs, heavy workouts, prayers and mental preparation had all come
down to this ONE moment. Was I ready? A hundred questions were racing through my
head in an instant. “Would I be able to breathe? Would the parachute open? Will my faith be rewarded, or my fears
confirmed? Do I trust God? Am I ready, to meet ... you know ... Him?”
“We’re going on three”, the instructor yelled, … ONE! and we
were somersaulting out the door! There
was no time to think. I felt a warm sensation;
an unexplained rush of love came over me as we were free-falling through the
air! My heart filled with joy as I openly
embraced and abandoned myself to the experience. The world looked so different from this
perspective. There was a calm and
peacefulness. As the parachute opened
and the wind faded, I looked out over the countryside in awe. I felt safe, secure and strangely loved as if
creation itself was smiling at me.
As we touched down and I tumbled forward, the instructor
grabbed me by my straps and pulled me up on my feet. I’d forgotten all my earlier worries, doubts,
and fears, I breathed in fully and raised my hands in triumph! Marveling in the movement of complete joy, the
feeling of freedom.
In contrast, John the Baptist, who lived most of this life
outdoors free from confines, now finds himself imprisoned in a cell. He must have felt trapped, with no hope of
finding a way out. He had to be
wondering if his life’s work had come to nothing. Maybe he was just running out of patience or
feeling his hope beginning to fade. So,
he sends messengers to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come or should we
look for another?” (Mt 11:3) Now Jesus could have easily responded, “I AM.” Instead, Jesus responds, “Go and tell John
what you hear and see.” (Mt 11:4) Will John believe in Jesus through these
works? Can we, Jesus’ later disciples,
believe in the Jesus who restores God’s creation to wholeness?
Let face it, we’re living in troubling times. Over the last decade we’ve experienced 9/11 and
multiple school and mass shootings. Domestic
violence, violence against law enforcement officers, and suicide among our
youth and military members are on the rise.
We seem to be living in fear, wondering when and where the next attack
will come. Our patience is worn thin and
it seems we get on one another’s nerves more easily. At this depressing moment in history, what
does God say in today’s readings?
Isaiah says to those who are frightened: “Be strong, fear
not! Here is your God, he comes with
vindication.” (Is 35:4) James tells us we must be patient and steady our
hearts, because the coming of the Lord is at hand.[2] Are you ready?
The Gospel is inviting us to ponder whether there are any
places of bondage within ourselves, any part of our being that lives with less freedom,
less fullness, less wholeness than God intends.
I can think of occasions when I’ve struggled within an institutional
system or times when I gave away my power.
Can you recall seasons when you’ve became so entangled in situations
that it just exhausted you?
John challenges us to ask: Whatever our circumstance, how
does God call us to live with freedom, with hope, with complete trust in the
One who came to proclaim release to the captives? Is there some part of your mind, your spirit,
your soul living in confinement? What news
of Christ, what word of hope, is God offering in that place of
confinement? What is one tiny step that
would lead to greater freedom?[3]
Are you ready? In
this season of expectation and incarnation, how might God be calling you into places
where others live in bondage and captivity, to speak the news of liberation? Especially for those who may have lost a love
one and this is their first Christmas without them; those forgotten, left to
the fringes of society, those literally imprisoned, or those who wear the
seasonal mask but are harboring feelings of unworthiness to approach God’s mercy
and love.
When Jesus’ message came back to John, it gave him the hope
and courage to face whatever might come. The same message is for us today who continue
our preparation to celebrate not just the coming of Christ at Christmas, but fully
embracing a call to a life-long vocation to service, to Him who is coming and His
children.
Put all your worries, doubts, and fears aside, trust in God who
has been and is faithful forever. With
this freedom we will be able to lift our hands triumphantly to saying with
Isaiah, we “see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God.” (Is 35:2) Are
you ready?
[1] New American Bible, Saint Joseph Edition ©
1986. Scriptures: Isaiah 35:1-6a, 10;
James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11
[2] Sundays with Jesus. Prepare the Way of the Lord
by James DiGiacomo, SJ © 2007. Paulist
Press, NJ
[3] Naked, and You Clothed Me, Edited by Deacon Jim
Knipper © 2013. “When John heard in
prison what the Messiah was doing…” by Jan L. Richardson.
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