MORAL CONVERSION
(12/20/06 TOPIC OF DISCUSSION)
PRESENTED BY MICHAEL FETSKO
The definition of Morality is related to sin which is a reality. The readings of this Third Sunday of Advent are 1st Reading - Zephaniah 3:14-18a; Psalm - Isaiah 12:2-3, 4, 5-6; 2nd Reading - Philippians 4:4-7; and the Gospel – St. Luke 3:10-18. This Sunday is generally referred to as “Gaudette Sunday” which means “Rejoice” and the theme is JOY. The readings culminate with the Gospel account of St. John the Baptist. Through prophecy and actual history these selected readings tell the story of St. John the Baptist who was a fierce ascetic, chosen from the womb of his mother, St. Elizabeth (the cousin of Mary the Mother of God). He lived and preached in the desert. His baptism was one of repentance in preparation for the coming of Jesus the Lord. John was a forerunner sent to prepare the way for the Messiah who was yet to be revealed.
This is a story that has its beginning at the dawn of human history, in Genesis - the Story of Creation. Adam, the 1st man and his wife Eve (mother of the living) were the crown of the Father’s creation. They were created from nothing. God created the heavens and the earth in 5 days and man on the 6th day. He rested on the 7th day, blessing it and making it holy. It became the traditional Sabbath. God saw what he created and exclaimed “It is good.” Satan – the serpent – deceived Eve who in turn deceived Adam and by their actions sin entered the world. It was the cumulative effect of pride and disobedience; a rebellion against God’s admonition that they could eat of every tree in the garden except the tree of good and evil.
The inherited result of this “Original Sin” is the perpetuation of this tendency towards rebellion and pride. It is a historical lifelong struggle built into our very nature. Mary (the new Eve) was the chosen vessel through which God planned our redemption. It was in Mary’s womb that Jesus, the Savior, was conceived. This Jesus who was in eternal existence with the Father, broke into time and space to become one of us and in so doing allowed us the privilege of entering into His existence for all eternity. Therefore John the Baptist announced the coming of this Messiah, Jesus, who would take away our sin through his death on the cross and his rising from the dead on the third day.
In the first reading (Zephaniah 3:14-18a) the prophet provides a rich background against which to view moral conversion. He speaks of the return of a sinful people to God as an event of mutual joy. God and the people are both ecstatic at being reunited. God reciprocates this exuberance. The psalm (Psalm - Isaiah 12:2-3, 4, 5-6); repeats this theme of exuberance. This canticle of Isaiah praises God as “Savior,” using the image of water as the focus of joy. In the second reading (Philippians 4:4-7), St. Paul exhorts the early Christian church to abandon their quarreling and to embrace virtues such as unselfishness and gratitude thus gaining closeness to the Lord in whom they are to rejoice always. The hallmark of a true Christian is Joy! There is reason for this, for the Christian is always waiting in joyful hope for “The coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.”
The historical journey of the Jews in the old testament was one marked by ups and downs. While following their ritualistic observances they wandered through the desert in pursuit of the promised land. Through tradition they were made aware of the promised messiah and awaited him eagerly.
Sin is defined by a “turning away from God” and is marked by rebellion, pride and anything that promotes self over God. Humans are weak, in need of a savior. And though we fall seven times a day He forgives our sins because of his incredible love and mercy. Conversion, therefore, is a turning away from sin. It involves going against our nature, making a decision, daily, to follow God and engage in a spiritual battle. Armed with prayer, the sacraments, and holy scripture we can overcome the enemy of our souls. Keeping our focus on Jesus allows us to rest in his presence so he can do battle for us and change us from within.
We can aid our spiritual journey by a frequent examination of conscience; a way of determining how we measure up to what God expects of us based on his commandments. The 10 Commandments are a guide to life and are in great part a basis for natural law. The motivation for living the Christian life should be the love and not the fear of the Lord – although scripture does say “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” We should seek to please the Lord with our lives; an offering of loving gratitude. We should persevere, with Gods grace, in this task.
Although Baptism removes the stain of original sin, the tendency to sin remains with us always. God’s grace is sufficient to overcome however we must be cautious about putting ourselves in harms way by avoiding the minefields of “occasions of sin.” Be open to God’s grace keeping in mind that letting the Lord into one’s life is an act of the will because the door of the heart opens from the inside. The responsorial psalm (Isaiah 12:2-3, 4, 5-6) finds an echo in Mary’s prayer of praise and thanksgiving (The Magnificat Luke1:46-55) when she visits her cousin Elizabeth, John the Baptist’s mother.
John the Baptist preached a baptism of water - an important element in Jewish tradition. The ancient Hebrews used water in ritual cleansing. John used water in the context of repentance always pointing to the one to come after him who would baptize with fire and the Holy Spirit. The traditional Jewish sacrifice involved the blood of an animal and was offered by the priest. Today, on our Catholic altars the High Priest, Jesus Christ, offers His own Body and Blood Soul and Divinity through the person of the priest.
The imagery of St. Luke’s gospel ( 3:10-18) is one of immediacy, the winnowing fan, the separation of the wheat from the chaff, the burning of the chaff and the gathering of the wheat into barns. Preceding this passage St. Luke reflects on Isaiah’s description of St. John the Baptist “A voice of one crying out in the desert prepare the way of the Lord make straight his paths.” We are invited to visualize a level field with valleys filled and mountains made low, winding ways made straight and rough paths made smooth. The exhortation therefore is to abandon evil practices and do good. In spite of the invitation not all will respond favorably because we do have free will to accept or reject the message of salvation. God invites yet He respects our choices. We are a special creation, and unlike animals that operate on instinct, humans have the cognitive capacity to decide. Adam and Eve rejected God’s call for obedience. They lost paradise. Christ regained it for us at the cost of His own life. God is the embodiment of all the virtues. He is the personification of Love, Justice, Truth, Freedom and Peace. He instills the capacity for all these virtues into everyone who will receive it. The Father wishes to see the reflection of Himself in each one of us. It is His work and it takes a lifetime to achieve as long as we remain willing participants in the process. God supplies, we receive. Any impediments to His grace are from us because sin continues to colors our lives, and sin sets up roadblocks to grace.
As the late Pope John Paul II stated, we live in a culture of death, abortion, capital punishment, etc. However these times have existed before and will exist again because history is cyclical. Trust in the perennial teachings of the Catholic Church. She is a mother guided by the Holy Spirit to impart truth throughout the ages. Obey in humility. Understanding will follow. A hopeful truth is that although we have the innate tendency to sin, God created us in love, with an openness to truth and beauty, a sense of moral goodness, freedom and the inner voice of conscience. We long for the infinite and for happiness. He has written a natural law on our hearts and we do hunger for Him. St. Augustine states that God has made us for Himself and our hearts are restless until they rest in Him. We are hardwired for faith – something that modern scientists have no answer for because faith cannot be quantified or qualified by the scientific process. Catholic theology inspires us to live the cardinal virtues (Cardinal/Cardo meaning “hinge”). They are PRUDENCE (wisdom), JUSTICE, FORTITUDE (stick-to-it-iveness), TEMPERANCE (a practical virtue which provides balance and good judgment) and lastly MERCY (which imparts fair and often benevolent treatment).
St. John the Baptist was single minded. He paid no attention to what people said about his strange appearance and lifestyle. He was a fierce man of the desert but more importantly of faith, living on locusts and wild honey. His mission was clear; he was to prepare the way of the Lord; His Lord, Jesus Christ, the thongs of whose sandals he was unfit to fasten. He made the ultimate sacrifice, dying as a martyr. He reminds us that we must not take this command to rejoice as a call for superficial cheeriness or an escape from necessary hard choices. On the other hand, the first and second readings as well as the psalm, forbid us to imagine that the moral life is a set of grim duties. The call to moral conversion is an invitation to lasting joy.
Submitted by,
Cecilia Cordeiro
Documentor