'Prophets' enrich our Advent journey

December 7, 2003 -- Second Sunday of Advent

By Bishop Robert Morneau

	Bishop Robert Morneau
	Questions for reflection: 1. What are the voices crying out in the desert of our times? 2. What is the central message from the prophet Baruch in the first reading? 3. Is John the Baptist's voice or that of St. Paul's still heard today? In your life?

Prophets are people with a message. In today's readings, three prophets speak to us and our culture. John the Baptist proclaims the coming of God's salvation and we must make ready the way of the Lord. The prophet Baruch announces the splendor of the glory of God and that we must wrap ourselves in a mantle of justice. And the great St. Paul also has a word for us: the good work of promoting the gospel must continue and we must learn to value what really matters.

In a recent book, The Question of God: C. S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and The Meaning of Life (New York: Free Press, 2002) the author Armand M. Nicholi, Jr., presents two 20th century "prophets" who also seek our attention. Their proclamations on various issues attempt to convince us of their perspective and, more than that, inform us on how we are to live our lives. Both of these men, C. S. Lewis, an apologist for the Christian faith, and Sigmund Freud, perhaps the most influential psychologist of our past century, continue to be heard through their writing (such as in this book). They are still a factor in the lives of many people if only through secondary sources.

Here are three comments from books that might enrich our Advent journey.

"No word in my vocabulary expressed deeper hatred than the word Interference, he [Lewis] wrote in Surprised By Joy. And he found himself acutely aware that the Old and New Testaments "placed at the center what seemed to me a transcendental Interferer" (46).

Advent is about interference. When God comes into our lives things are different. We begin, like St. Paul comments, to see what really matters. When John the Baptist experienced this "transcendental Interferer" he left family and friends and went into the desert in response to God's call. And Baruch knew that he too was "remembered by God", a God who broke into history to lead us to joy through the paths of mercy and justice.

God did not just create us and then leave us alone. God continues to be with us. And, of course, the great moment of interference was the coming of his son Jesus. For those who have constructed for themselves a comfort zone, this type of God is not appreciated. If our pager is on, we are going to get a call. Just ask John, Paul, and Baruch.

C. S. Lewis was an atheist the first 31 years of his life. After his conversion he felt a call to share this newly gift of faith with others. In The Question of God this comment is made: ". . . Lewis came to a firm belief, not only in a Creator of the universe, but also a belief that that Creator stepped into human history" (39).

This is what Advent is all about. This is what the mission of John the Baptist and St. Paul was all about: a God who stepped into history and changed everything. For Sigmund Freud the realities of suffering and death were so overwhelming that they precluded any belief for this doctor. For Lewis, this God, who stepped into history, took on our suffering and conquered death through the resurrection. During Advent we celebrate this mystery of Jesus.

One last brief comment. In what lies happiness? C. S. Lewis quotes Addison as follows: ". . . obedience to the will of God makes men happy and disobedience makes them miserable" (125). Advent is a season of obedience exemplified by Mary's saying "yes" to whatever the Lord asked of her. Herein lies happiness and its byproducts: peace and joy.

(Bp. Morneau is the auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay.)