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The
Voice from the Stable
December 8 2002 Homily
Fr.
George Smiga
Mark
1:1-8
There
is an old rabbinic story about a farmer named Isaac who went
to his neighbor and asked to borrow his donkey. The neighbor
said, "I'm sorry Isaac, but my donkey is already out
on loan to someone else." But just as he finished speaking,
the donkey brayed from inside the stable. So Isaac said, "How
can you tell me that your donkey is on loan to someone else
when I can hear him braying inside the stable?" The neighbor
shook his head and said, "Isaac, who are you going to
believe, the donkey or me?"
"Who
are you going to believe?" That question is posed by
today's gospel. In the gospel today we hear many good things.
We hear of the good news of Jesus Christ. We hear that God
is present in our world. John the Baptist says that Christ
is coming, a powerful Christ that will baptize us in the Holy
Spirit. All of these things are wonderful. But they are not
the only voices in our world.
There
are other voices that tell a very different story: the voices
of terrorism and impending war, that tell us we are not safe
and that we may need to use violence to protect ourselves;
the voices of scandal in business and in our church that undermine
the institutions we value and cause us to doubt our connection
to them. There may be voices in our own lives, voices of dissension
and rejection that we find in our relationships--in our families,
in our marriage, in our friendships--voices that tell us that
trust and love are no longer possible. There might be the
voices of grief, voices that tell us that we have lost something
very dear; perhaps a person who has died. These voices tell
us that we will never shake that emptiness. We will never
be happy again. All these voices resound in our ears. They
tell us that there is no good news, only bad news; that there
is no reason to rejoice, only reason to weep. Who are we going
to believe?
Both the
words of John the Baptist and the words of Advent call us
to listen. To listen for the Good News, to listen for the
voice from the stable. You and I believe that Jesus Christ
was born in a stable, lived his life, died and rose again
as our risen Lord. We believe that he is still with us. We
believe that if we listen, we can hear his voice. We might
hear it in the innocence of children, or in the faithfulness
of a friend, or in the goodness of our spouse, or in the kindness
of a co-worker. We might hear good news in a ministry that
we engage in as part of a Christmas project here at St. Noel,
or in generosity from a stranger, or in the beauty of the
snow, or in the stillness of our hearts.
Wherever
we hear those voices, those voices of good news, Advent tells
us to listen to them and let them in. Advent tells us that
the voices of negativity, the voices of gloom and fear should
not be the only voices in our lives. They are not the only
voices in the world. There are voices of good news,
if we can hear them. There is reason for hope, if we
can let it in.
Shouts
of bad news and shouts of good news cry out at the same time.
Reasons for hope and reasons for despair coexist within our
world. Who are we going to believe? Advent tells us to believe
in the voice from the stable, to believe in the voice of Christ.
His is a voice we can trust in. His is a voice we can stake
our life on. If we listen to that voice, we will not be disappointed.
For even though there is darkness and brokenness in our world,
his voice will lead us to good news. Even though there are
real cries of sadness, in his voice we can hear peace, hope
and joy.
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