Dec. 16, 2007: 3rd Sunday Advent (A)

Few years ago when I was teaching a CCD class, a 14-year old young lady asked me, “Mr. Paul, how do you know when the boy you are dating is ‘the one.’” I asked her, “What do you mean by ‘the one’?” She said she’s been dating one particular boy for the past six-months. This was her longest relationship she ever had, and she felt may be this is the boy she is suppose to marry. I was ready to give her the standard answer a typical parent would give: ‘You are too young; you got to date more and after college you can consider getting married.’ But would that answer have satisfied her?

We have many couples here in the church who have been married 5, 10, 25, and even 50 years. I’m assuming that all of you are married to ‘the one’ which this young lady is referring to. So I’m assuming you are experts at finding ‘the one.’ How would you advise this young lady? Or am I presuming too much? Have you found ‘the one’ or are you still on the search?

There is a great analogy that relates to this whole question—a hook on the wall to hang clothes. That young lady is looking for the perfect hook to hang all her heavy expectations about her perfect man. Initially she finds a boy that fits her expectation; she found the right hook to hang her hopes and dreams. But hopes and dreams, by their nature, are infinite. They grow and get heavier. And soon enough, her expectation exceeds the limit of that hook. Inevitably that hook either bends or breaks. How many married couples here experienced this?

What this reveals is that all of us have a heart that longs for the infinite. But how can a person who is finite fill this longing. No human can. Only a person who is infinite can fill this.

In today’s Gospel, John the Baptist asks this crucial question to Jesus. “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” John is seeking the one whom the Prophet Isaiah has described in the First Reading today. “Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing.” Does Jesus fulfill this impossible expectation of John and Isaiah? Jesus answers, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, and the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them…” Yes, Jesus is the only one who fulfills our infinite thirst and longing. And He is the one for whom all of us are waiting for during this Advent.

St. Augustine has found this truth late in his life, after years of unsuccessfully trying to satisfy his infinite thirst with earthly things. He writes in his Confession the following:

“Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you… You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness…”

Jesus asked the crowd who gathered around John the Baptist the following: “What did you go out to the desert to see? Someone dressed in fine clothing?” Jesus could be asking us today, “What did you come to church to see?” Certainly we are not here to see priests and deacons. They are finite, frail, and limited; we will be disappointed if we try to hang our infinite expectation on their finite hooks. Priests and deacons can only point to the one who is infinite and will satisfy all our thirst. Likewise, we cannot hang our infinite expectation on our spouse or that Mr. or Ms. Perfect whom we are searching for. There is only one person whom we are seeking: Jesus. We have found Him here in the Catholic Church. But, it will be up to us to grow in relationship with Him. We may not have such a great relationship with Him at this moment. But St. James encourages us today: “Be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth…You too must be patient. Make your hearts firm, because the coming of the Lord is at hand.”