3^rd Sunday of Advent [B] 2011

Once there was an old man living in the primitive country of New Guinea. He made his living by cutting firewood for the mission hospital. Everyone in the village called him One-Tooth because that is exactly what he had—one tooth in his whole head! But besides cutting wood, the old man spent part of each day reading the Gospel to outpatients sitting in the hospital waiting room. Day after day, he shared his faith in Jesus with these suffering people.

Then one day something happened. One-Tooth began to have trouble reading. At first he thought it was something that would get better, but it didn’t. So One-Tooth went to the hospital to see the doctor. After he examined the old woodcutter, the doctor put his arm around the old man and said, “I have something difficult to tell you. You’re going blind, and there is nothing we can do.” “Oh no,” said One-Tooth. “I’m already old. Now I’ll be blind and useless too.”

The next day One-Tooth didn’t show up at the hospital. Nor did he show up the day after that. One-Tooth had vanished. Later the doctor learned that One-Tooth was living alone in a deserted part of the island. A boy who brought the old man food told the doctor where he was. So the doctor went to see One-Tooth. “What are you doing here?” the doctor asked. One-Tooth answered, “Ever since you told me I was going blind, I’ve been reading and memorizing the most important parts of the Gospel. I’ve already memorized Jesus’ birth, several of his miracles and parables, and his death and resurrection. I’ve been repeating them over and over to the boy to make sure I’ve got them right. In about a week I will be back at the hospital again, doctor, telling the patients about Jesus.

I think that story fits in beautifully with today’s readings. It is like the first reading where Isaiah the prophet says, “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the lowly.” That same spirit of the Lord came upon One-Tooth after he was baptized and confirmed. And he felt the same call to bring the glad tidings of Jesus to those who needed him most.

The story also fits in with the second reading where Paul tells us not to “stifle the spirit.” One-Tooth did not stifle the spirit. Even in the face of blindness, he did everything possible to let the Spirit speak through him to his brothers and sisters.

And certainly the story fits in with the Gospel, which tells us of the preaching of John the Baptist. John went into the desert when he was a young man to ponder God’s Word. Then he came out of the desert to preach that Word to the people: “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord!’” One-Tooth went into the desert to memorize God’s word and make it a part of him. He, too, came forth from the desert to share that Word with others.

The story of One-Tooth and John the Baptist are Advent stories. They are stories of individuals who shared their discovery with others so they too could find Christ. Are we not supposed to do the same? The Spirit of God is upon us too. We too have been anointed to bring the glad tidings of Jesus Christ to the poor. Through our baptism and confirmation, we received the same calling they did. We must come out of the desert to proclaim that Word to others.

How do we do that? I suppose there are as many ways as there are people in this room. What about starting with our families? How present is God in our homes? Do we ever pray together: Do we make our home a peaceful place where people respect each other? Are we grateful for each other and express that?

Secondly, what are we doing about all the things that make the roads of our world crooked and full of obstacles? Do we tolerate racism, dishonesty, pornography, abortion, poverty? I’m sure John would have screamed about all those things. But I doubt that he would have stopped there. Surely he would have done something to help the victims of all those crimes against God’s people.

Finally, I think we here have a real opportunity to proclaim Jesus Christ to a special group of people—to our own friends, relatives and neighbors who have become inactive in the faith for whatever reason. A simple way to do that is to invite them to go with us to Mass during Advent or on Christmas Day.

Dr. Dean Hoge, a religious sociologist, says that the “happiest Catholics” he has interviewed were “dropout Catholics” who had come back to the Church. And the best recruiters of “dropout Catholics” were once dropouts themselves. He cites a statistic that all of us should take seriously: 2/3 of the thousands of Catholics who return to the faith each year do so because a neighbor, a friend or a relative invited them to return. Not Father or a parish staff member, but just a friend or neighbor. We must all reach out to them—to all those who could benefit so much from regular contact with the Eucharist and our community.

Today’s readings really are an invitation for us to do what John the Baptist and One-Tooth did—invitations to become Advent people, invitations for us to find Jesus Christ in our own lives, so that we in turn can help others to find them in their lives. They are invitations to become a light in the darkness of our world as John and One-Tooth were. It is up to no one else but us to do something about it.