The Way of Peace – 3rd Sunday of Advent – Sermon by Father Levine

Fr. Joseph Levine; Holy Family Catholic Church and Missions, Burns, Oregon; December 15, 2024

The people come to St. John the Baptist asking, What should we do? Effectively he tells them to turn away from evil and do the good that is ready at hand. These are little things, not very dramatic; they do not call attention to themselves. He does not say, like a speaker at a college graduation, “Go out and change the world.” He does not say, like a revolutionary, “Go out into the streets and protest.” He does not even say, “Speak out against the evil; expose it. The one who keeps silent is complicit.” He does not support the Zealot party of his day, which fomented rebellion against Rome. Indeed, he even gives advice to tax collectors and soldiers. He seems to be concerned with individual conversion of heart and conduct, rather than social and political change.

Yet, he does tell them that by doing these little things, seemingly insignificant, they are preparing the way for something (and Someone) inconceivably great, in regard to which he is merely the forerunner and herald. They already regard John as a holy man and a prophet, but the One to come is so inconceivably great that John does not count himself worthy to be his meanest slave.

And what does this great One bring? Baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire. This does not stand in opposition to the baptism with water that John administered but adds to and perfects it. Nor does the Holy Spirit differ from the fire: the Holy Spirit, if accepted is a fire that purifies, transforms, sanctifies, and gives life, but if rejected a consuming fire of judgment. (cf. He 10:27; 12:29)

St. John the Baptist prepares the way for someone inconceivably great. We, however, come after all this and already believe in the One who came, namely Jesus Christ, the Son of God. So, it will be appropriate today to give a brief review of the whole sweep of greatness, from its origin to its fulfillment. His going out is from the end of heaven, and his circuit even to the end thereof: and there is no one that can hide himself from his heat. (Ps 19[18]:6, Douay Rheims)

The Holy Spirit, whom St. John names, is we know the third person of the Holy Trinity. The great One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit, we know is the very Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity. So, we must start with the Holy Trinity, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, one God, the Creator of all things, who sustains everything in existence, and guides everything to its supreme goal, bringing his creation back to completion in himself.  In the Holy Trinity, the Son is eternally begotten of the Father and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. The mystery of the Trinity is the first mystery that is summarized in our Creed.

The second is the mystery of the Incarnation, the Son of God made man. Here things can get very confusing. For while in the Trinity, the Holy Spirit comes from the Son, the man Jesus Christ, who is the same Son of God, is sanctified and guided by the Holy Spirit; he is the same who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.

He is the one whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world. (Jn 10:36) The Father consecrated the man Jesus by sanctifying him with the Holy Spirit. Yet, the man Jesus is the same Son of God, whom the Father sent into the world, who says, I and the Father are one. (Jn 10:30) Insofar, then, as Jesus is one with the Father, he comes of his own into the world, and he also consecrates his own humanity with the Holy Spirit. So the man Jesus is guided by the Holy Spirit, whom he receives from the Father and also from himself, as God, one with the Father.

St. Augustine tells us: “No greater gift could God have given to men than in making His Word, by which He created all things, their Head, and joining them to Him as His members: that the Son of God might become also the Son of Man, one God with the Father, one Man with men; so that when we speak to God in prayer for mercy, we do not separate the Son from Him; and when the Body of the Son prays, it separates not its Head from itself: and it is one Savior of His Body, Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who both prays for us, and prays in us, and is prayed to by us. He prays for us, as our Priest; He prays in us, as our Head; He is prayed to by us, as our God. Let us therefore recognize in Him our words, and His words in us.” (Exposition of the Psalms, 86.1) 

This is the third mystery, the Redemption. Jesus has become our mediator and our high priest; he is also our sacrifice, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. This involves an ascending movement, through the sacrifice of the Cross, by which he reconciles us to God and restores us to his grace, and a descending movement, whereby, after taking his seat at the right hand of the Father, he sends the Holy Spirit upon his Church and upon us, to sanctify us, to make our hearts like his Sacred Heart. This is a work that was begun in our baptism and must continue until God brings it to completion, leading us by the Holy Spirit, into the true land of the living, (Ps 27[26]:13; 143[142]:10) the Father’s house, where the Son has prepared a place for us. (Jn 14:2)

So shout for joy, O daughter Zion … Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem because the Lord has removed the judgment against you, forgiving your sins through the Blood of his Son, Jesus Christ, because the Lord, your God, is in your midst a mighty savior.

He is in our midst because the Son of God became man, born of the Virgin Mary, Emmanuel, God-with-us. He is in your midst because he continues to dwell among us in the Holy Eucharist, the sacrament of his Body and Blood, born of the Virgin Mary, offered for our salvation. He is in our midst because the Holy Spirit dwells in the soul in a state of grace making her to become a worthy temple of God.

Jesus Christ is a mighty savior who through his Holy Spirit frees us from sin, sanctifies us, purifies us, and transforms us, refashioning our hearts to be like his Sacred Heart. In this way he renews us in his love, not just in the knowledge of his love for us, but kindling his love within us, for the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given us. (Rm 5:5) We can continue to draw water from the fountain of salvation, that is the grace of the Holy Spirit from the Sacred Heart of Jesus, opened for us on the Cross, reaching to us through the sacraments of the Church.

The more we live from his grace the more we are able to present our petitions to him without anxiety. We live in a very anxious world; there are people who suffer from a truly crippling anxiety. When we pray with anxiety, we demand things from God because we think we cannot do without them. So, we very much need to learn to pray, presenting our petitions to God without anxiety. He already knows what we desire before we ask, but he wants to hear. We must then present before him, with complete trust, our desires, our fears, our hopes, and then leave everything in his hands. To trust in him is to believe that he cares for us more than we care for ourselves. To leave everything in his hands is trust him to act for and realize our true good beyond anything we can imagine and conceive.

St. Paul writes that we do not know how to pray as we ought. (Rm 8:26) This is because we ask for the things we think we need but what we think we need at times would truly be harmful to our eternal salvation. So we present God with our perceived needs, but trust that what he has to give is much greater, beyond our understanding. Then Holy Spirit intercedes for us with sighs too deep for word. (Rm 8:26) That is the Holy Spirit moves us to sigh for, to long for the good that God has in store for us, the good that we cannot grasp in words, the good the exceeds all that our mind and heart can conceive. As our longing reaches beyond our perceived needs to the good God has prepared, we are prepared to receive what God wants to give. Then, the more we learn to entrust everything to his hands, the more we are able to enjoy the peace of God that surpasses understanding.

All this begins with the little things we must do to prepare the way, turning away from evil and doing the good that lies at hand. There is the first step. Once we have taken the first step another step will lie before us, and then a third. If we hasten like the Blessed Virgin, in the Visitation, hastened to the aid of her cousin Elizabeth, (cf. Lk 1:39) to do the good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them, we will then draw near to God and enter into his peace. (Eph 2:10)

And finally, I should return to that graduation speaker who wants us to change the world. If we follow the path of doing the good that lies at hand; if in this way we prepare a place for Christ in our hearts; if Christ indeed comes to reign in our hearts through his Holy Spirit. Then we will be changed; then the world will be changed.