Fr. Jeff’s Weekly Homily

December 4, 2005

READING 1: Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11
Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God.

READING 2: 2Peter 3:8-14
But according to his promise we await new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

GOSPEL: Mark 1:1-8
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God.
As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way. A voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.” John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. People of the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins. John was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He fed on locusts and wild honey. And this is what he proclaimed: “One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Tim McGraw is a country singer. He is the illegitimate son of the late baseball player Tug McGraw, who never acknowledged his son until Tim was already a successful adult. Tim has a hit album with some songs I really enjoy. One is entitled, “You can’t tell me nothin’” and it resonates. In it, Tim tells of a guy who ignored the advice of his father, his mother-in-law, the medical-scientific community and the Good Book. In every case, he suffered the consequences because “you can’t tell me nothin’”. Another song speaks of the human condition. We humans would like to live easy lives, free of hassle, worry or challenge. This song is titled “Drugs or Jesus,” and we hear that some choose to find ways to anesthetize themselves to avoid reality and other choose Jesus to get them through reality and all life’s struggles. He ends saying, “I need you, Jesus, I need you, Jesus.” That is a great mantra for Advent!

But the song that made this album an award winning best seller is entitled: “Live Like Your Were Dying.” Naturally, I couldn’t resist it. I am enjoying it because it is a fact that even as we enjoy dynamic, energized, stimulating lives, we are in fact dying. Life is a journey of single steps toward the inevitable. You might think the change in weather has me depressed or something. Why talk about this? This is a season of joy and hope and high expectations. As we think about the gifts we want to give this Christmas; and as we dream about the gifts we hope Santa will bring, John the Baptist calls us back to the reality that we do need to live like we are dying.

A professor was invited to speak at a military base and was met at the airport by a soldier named Ralph. As they headed toward the baggage claim area, Ralph kept disappearing---once to help an older woman with her suitcase, once to lift up two toddlers so they could see Santa Claus on TV, and again to give some directions.

The professor was impressed. “Where did you learn to live like that?”

“During my time in Vietnam ,” Ralph said. He explained that he was part of a unit assigned to clear mine fields and he saw many friends die right before his eyes. “I learned to live between the steps. I never knew whether the next step would be my last, so I had to get everything I could out of that moment between picking up my foot and putting it down again. Every step was like a whole new world.”

Tim McGraw puts it this way, “I loved deeper, I was the husband that most of the time I wasn’t, I gave forgiveness I’d been denying, and I became a friend a friend would like to have. Live like tomorrow was a gift and you’ve got eternity to think about what you did with it.”

Fr. Jeff McGowan
Queen of Peace Catholic Community
Gainesville, Florida