|
Sts. Joseph & Paul Catholic Church |
Homily Notes | |
 |
Nativity of John the
Baptist As a small child I remember playing a game in which we formed a circle, held hands, and, while turning in a circle, we sang a song about bridges: “London Bridge is falling down, falling down. London Bridge is falling down, my fair lady.”
Bridges are designed to take us from one place to the next. They
get us from one side of the bank to the other. Some people have
frightening dreams about bridges -- crossing to the middle of the bridge
and then falling, but waking up before they hit bottom. Bridges even have
names: the Sunshine Bridge over Tampa Bay, the Golden Gate Bridge in San
Francisco, the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, the beautiful new Natcher
Parkway Bridge that goes over the Ohio River here in Owensboro, and even a
Natural Bridge at Cumberland State Park here in Kentucky. I know people,
who are so fearful of crossing bridges, that they will drive out of their
way so that they can get to work without ever having to cross a bridge.
But, the fact remains that bridges give us the ability to move from one
point to another. The Word of God this Sunday presents us with the image of a bridge - the bridge of John the Baptist. As this wild looking John the Baptist emerged from the desert wearing sandals and camel’s hair, he called out to a darkened world, saying “one is coming who is mightier than I.” John the Baptist desired to help people cross from the side of darkness to the side of light. He called people from the old way of living to a new way of living. We can see this bridge being built as Elizabeth, his mother, says that they will not name their son after his father, Zechariah; “he will be called John.” They did not follow the tradition of the old law and name him Zach Jr. An angel sent by God encouraged them, and they took a new path. His name was John, a name that means, “The Lord is gracious.” And that the Lord is – Gracious – as John takes a prominent place in salvation history and points all of humanity in a direction where they had not been before. By following in the way of John the Baptist, we are taken somewhere new; we are taken to Jesus Christ, who is our salvation. As we hear the cry of the one calling out of the wilderness, we are invited to ask ourselves, “what new way do we desire our gracious Lord to take us?” What old ways do we wish to leave behind: a grudge, an addiction, a hurt, a feeling of unimportance, or pride, or anger? Faith is not about staying in one place. Faith is about growing and moving and believing that One has come into the world, who has the compassion that we so desire. We only need to follow the signs and cross the bridge, going from one side to the other.
sdrose@bellsouthnet
|
