Archbishop of Sydney

Third Sunday of Advent

St. Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney
Is 61:1-2,10-11; 1 Thess 5:16-24; Jn 1:6-8,19-28

By + Cardinal George Pell
Archbishop of Sydney
11/12/2005

John the Baptist is back in today’s gospel from St. John.  He has central casting during this Advent season, because he pointed the way to Christ and called his followers to repent and believe.  These are still the central demands for anyone today who wants to be judged a follower of Christ.

In today’s gospel, with the theological terminology typical of St. John (somewhat different from the personal and local imagery used in most of the other three gospels), John the Baptist describes himself as a witness to the Light.  He was not the Light itself; neither was he the Christ, the one who was anointed (and therefore the Messiah); nor Elijah, nor the Prophet who was expected.  In fact he was not fit to undo even the sandal strap of the One who was to come, who would baptise with the Holy Spirit, rather than mere water.

John the Baptist described himself as “a voice crying in the wilderness” urging everyone to “make a straight way for the Lord”.

What are we called on to do, especially in this Advent season, to make a straight way for the Lord?  We are called to repent and believe.

Last week I spoke of the necessity for regular repentance of our sins as we go through life and urged everyone to go to the sacrament of reconciliation, to go to confession, as part of the best preparation for Christmas.

Today I wish to say a few words on the other half of the challenge, the call to believe.  Faith is not something we acquire once and for all, that we can put in our pocket or list as one of our possessions, and then retain without doing anything about it.  Even a possession like a house needs to be continually maintained and repaired, while a garden needs a lot more regular work to keep it beautiful.

In some periods of history I suspect it is easier to believe than in others, because of the changing pressures of elite or popular opinion.  In Australia the pressures for unbelief are probably waning, but in parts of Western Europe, like England, unbelief is still very confident.  At different stages in our lives, God can seem near, and at other times He can seem distant.  After the untimely death of a loved one, perhaps with intense suffering, God can seem hidden and we have to struggle through this darkness by continuing to pray.

We make straight the way of the Lord through regular prayer, because if we decide to continue in faith or if we want to believe, we need to pray and pray regularly.  Every Sunday Mass goer should pray every day, even if it is only an Our Father and a Hail Mary.  Morning and night prayers are a good and easy habit to follow and grace before family meals is also appropriate, as well as easy and practical.  Paul today in the excerpt we have from his letter to the Thessalonians urges them to pray constantly and give thanks to God for all their blessings.

Just recently an English Catholic writer, Paul Johnson, had a beautiful article on Advent prayer in the British magazine “The Spectator”.  Advent he explained is a time for prayer, for raising our heart to God, for the ascent of the mind to God.

There are four elements to prayer: the praise of God, thanksgiving for His benefits, asking pardon for our sins and of course praying for what we need.

Like immature children we can be always asking God for something and neglecting the other elements of prayer, especially saying thanks and praising God.

Over the ages Christian writers have disputed what things we might properly pray for.  One or two claimed we should only pray for spiritual things, but Our Lord himself in the Our Father urged us to pray for our daily bread.  How widely that might be interpreted is a matter of dispute.  St. Augustine put it nicely: “It is proper to pray for anything which may be lawfully desired”.

Johnson then explained that he prayed for those who have died, 15 persons in particular and the welfare of the living, his current list containing 32 names.  He knows it is not lawful to pray for the destruction of his enemies, though he longs to do that for four in particular!

He also gave a marvellous example of how we should not pray, citing an ex-member of parliament, “a successful pill manufacturer” who allegedly prayed like this.

“O Lord, thou knowest that I have nine houses in the City of London and that I have lately purchased an estate in Essex.  I beseech thee to preserve the counties of Essex and Middlesex from fires and earthquakes.  And as I also have a mortgage in Hertfordshire, I beg Thee to have an eye of compassion on that county too, and for the rest of the counties Thou mayest deal with them as Thou art pleased.”

This is a splendid misunderstanding of what God is about and how not to pray.

To conclude by returning to my questions as we examined our consciences at the start of Mass.  Do we pray regularly?  Do we attend Mass on every Sunday?  Are we improving or slipping in our prayer life?  Do we pray more or less than we did in the past?  Is our prayer stronger or weaker?

Whatever our answers, prayer makes straight the way of the Lord, especially at Advent.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.