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December 8, 1989
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Commentary
The Message -- for Catholics of Southwestern Indiana
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I IIII
Mass Readings
By FATHER
DONALD DILGER
John the Baptist.
repentance and promise
Gospel Commentary for Sunday, Dec. 10, 1989 Se-
cond Sunday of Advent -- Matthew 3:1-12
Last Sunday the Gospel looked forward.to the
second advent of Jesus when he returns as final
judge. Beginning today, the Sunday Gospels of Ad-
vent look backward to the first Advent of Jesus, his
birth at Bethlehem. They also look forward to our
annual joyful celebration of the event. This
celebration connects us once again with the confu-
sion and the submission of the annunciation to
Mary or to Joseph, depending on whether we read
Luke or Matthew. It connects us with that trip to
Bethlehem, the pain of finding no lodging, the joy
of birth, the joy of angels and shepherds, the in-
quiring minds of the Magi.
But before all of the above Advent takes us
back to the preparation for the Messiah. John the
Baptist is the leading actor in that preparation.
John suddenly appears from out of the wilderness.
He is dressed in the customary garb of an ancient
prophet, a shaggy cloak of camel's hair with a
leather sash around his waist. Mark and Matthew
describe him in these terms to remind us that John
is the fulfillment of an ancient expectation of the
return of the prophet Elijah. To make this point the
authors describe him with words used to describe
the prophet Elijah in the Second Book of Kings,
1:8.
His food consists of a low cholesterol diet of
locusts and wild honey. Even to this day the
wandering Bedouins of Arabia eat this food.
Locusts were eaten raw, roasted or cooked. They
were also crushed and ground to be put into other
dishes of food. Sometimes they were mixed with
honey to spread on bread. A modern analysis of
the nutritional value of locusts Shows a content of
75 per cent protein, 3.4 per cent fats and 7.5 per
cent carbohydrates. They are rich in vitamins and
minerals. John may have been thin, but he was
well nourished. It is interesting to' note that
Deuteronomy 14:19 forbids the eating of any in-
sects because they are considered an "unclean"
food. However, the Book of Leviticus, 11:22 makes
an exception for locusts, crickets and grasshop-
pers.
If we accept the infancy narratives of Luke we
can say that John was about thirty years old at this
time, about the age of Jesus. John became a
popular and influential preacher of repentance.
Those who accepted his message submitted to a
baptism or washing in the Jordan River. According
to Luke and Mark but not Matthew this washing
was "for the forgiveness of sins." Matthew wants
to avoid such an expression because he reserves
the forgiving of sins to Jesus and those authorized
by him. Matthew does however say that the people
confessed their sins while being baptized.
John's basic message and warning: the king-
dom of heaven is at hand. This is his message in
Matthew, though not in Mark and Luke. Mark
reserves that message for Jesus but calls it the king-
dom of God rather than the kingdom of heaven. In
accordance with Jewish custom Matthew is hesi-
tant to use the name of God unnecessarily and
usually substitutes the word "heaven." Luke isn't
quite sure what to say about the proximity of the
kingdom. Instead he will change the text to say
merely that John "evangelized" the people.
To emphasize John's message Matthew (and
Luke) will adopt the frightening description of
John's preaching from the hypothetical gospel we
call "Q", the first letter of a German word mean-
ing source. When Matthew and Luke agree on the
wording of a text not found in Mark we call their
common source "Q". The tone of this lost gospel
is frequently threatening and condemnatory. In
Old Testament language John speaks of judgment
coming through "ONE MIGHTIER THAN I." This
"MIGHTIER ONE" will baptize with the Holy
Spirit and with fire. He will separate the wheat
from the chaff, (the good from the evil). The wheat
goes into the granary, the chaff to the fire.
John was preparing the people of his time for
the "Day of the Lord," a day when God would
judge all people, rewarding the good (the wheat in
the ranary) and punishing the evil (the chaff
thrown into unquenchable fire). The agent of God
who will bring about this renewal, the "MIGHTIER
ONE THAN I," is Jesus of Nazareth whom the
Gospels now bring upon the scene. Matthew,
writing some fifty years later has a message for his
own community. The same Jesus who had fulfilled
John's promise will soon return. It is this Jesus
who will be the judge and separate the wheat from
the chaff.
And what is the message of this Gospel to peo-
ple of our time? The kingdom, i.e. God's rule, is at
hand in Jesus who in Matthew promises: "I am
with you all days to the end of the age." But we
n'e6d to be annually reminded of his first and se-
cond advents, the birth and the judgment. Advent
is a preparation for both. While we prepare for the
joyful celebration of the first, we also keep our
eyes open for the second. It is a time of renewal, of
return to God through a spiritual washing and con-
fessing of our sins. The MIGHTY ONE is coming.
Other readings for Sunday, Dec. 10, 1989: Isaiah
11:1-10; Romans 15:4-9
Letters
Continued from page 4
Confused
To the editor,
Sometimes I wonder how
confused people can become in
their reasoning ("Anglican
Relations" Nov. 24, 1989).
Is Ms. Weaver suggesting that
the Anglican Church is respon-
sible for all the evils of the
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world? Has she never heard
about the other side of the coin
when too many faithful Protes-
tant bretheren suffered at the
hands of indulgence-selling
Catholics? What Archbishop
Runcie and Pope John Paul II
are saying is "forgive us our
trespasses, Thy will be done." I
for one, having been brought up
in the Angican tradition, would
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like to applaud their joint in-
itiative and I pray that their
discussions may lead to the fur-
therence of God's will
(wherever that may lead us)
without the shackles and pre-
judices dragged up once again
in Ms. Weaver's diatribe.
May I suggest that it is more
important to understand the
past in order to know the pre-
sent rather than in reverse.
Sincerely yours,
Tony Noyes
Newburgh, Ind.
Thank you
Dear Editor,
At this thanksgiving season,
the Washington Support Group
for Separated, Divorced and
Widowed Men and Women
wishes to sincerely thank you
for your publishing notices of
our singles dances in The
Message.
This publicity has been Very
helpful in making our dances a
success by bringing together
"single again" persons in our
area.
We very much appreciate
your generous assistance to us
and wish you all a very happy
holiday season!
Members of
The Washington Support
Group For Separated,
Divorced and Widowed
Men and Women
El Salvador
TO the editor;
I'm writing in response to the
recent murders of the six Jesuit
priests and two laywomen in E1
Salvador. The article in the
Nov. 24th issue of the Message
quote State Department
spokeswoman Margaret Tut-
wiler who said, "we do not
know who committed this bar-
barous act." That may or may
not be true.
I personally feel guilty
whenever I hear news of the
war there because of the 5
billion U.S. tax dollars which
have helped fuel the war and
have provided bullets which
have maimed and killed so
many innocent victims. Sixty-
thousand Salvadorans have
been killed since 1979. The
result of all this money being
sent has certainly not been to
change the status quo. The rich
are still in power. The right
wing death squads are still ac-
tive. The poor still suffer. The
government seems to me to be a
democracy in name only as
long as the right wing death
squads terrorize those who ad-
vocate change.
Over and over, church
leaders have asked the U.S.
government to stop sending
money to the Salvadoran
government. Yet, our leaders
continue to listen and believe
politicians lik.e President Cris-
tiani of E1 Salvador instead of
the priest,-,, brothers, sisters and
lay people who risk their lives
to help the poor. I just don't
understand.
If we as a nation are truly con-
cerned about fighting com-
munism, why don't we side
with the poor and oppressed in
these fighting areas? Why do
we continue to believe and sup-
port weak and corrupt
governments?
I want to encourage people
who are concerned about this to
please call our congressmen
and ask them those questions.
Ask them to do what they can to
put political pressure on the
governments we've been fund-
ing. Ask them to stop sending
money to, support repressive
regimes and spend our money
on the homeless and hungry
right here in the United States.
Local phone numbers to contact
congressmen are: Represen-
tative McCloskey, 465-6484,
and Senators Lugar and Coats,
465-6313.
Sincerely,
Patricia Ryan O'Neill
Evansville, Ind.
Another interesting bit of in-
formation that may shed light
on why the U.S. is so friendly
with the Salvadoran govern-
ment is that 60 percent of El
Salvador's coffee is exported by
U.S. corporations such as
Nestles, Proctor and Gamble,
and General Foods. The profit
goes to the small, powerful
group of elite who rule E1
Salvador.
