A Message From St. John

This is a computer-generated transcription that has been included to make the homily searchable.  It has not been verified by the author. 

The Church has been celebrating Advent for a long time, for many centuries. But Advent is not like some celebrations or some traditions, which, after a while lose their relevance, no longer have much meaning. Advent, on the contrary, each year, it becomes like, more urgent, more important, and especially for the times that we’re living right now. Advent has, even though the Church has been celebrating it for so many centuries, it has special meaning and special graces for the times that we’re living right now, for the struggles that we’re living right now. And for our little mission, you know, our little mission, our tiny, little, poor, tiny, little mission that the Lord has raised up for these times and to our little mission now is use it to announce this reconquest and Advent very much is the spirit of what our community is called to live. And I think that’s helpful to see that it’s not just our community having some weird idea, but it’s very much the spirit that all the Church is called to, especially in Advent; because Advent is waiting for the Lord, waiting for the coming of the Lord, waiting for the Lord to act, to act powerfully. And all the readings of Advent speak of how powerful will be this action of the Lord. And in Advent, because of this, there’s a intense presence of prophets. And the prophet Isaiah in a particular way, but the role of prophets is highlighted in Advent and the Church can tend to forget the role of prophets. And so, I think that’s one of the things he’s asked our little community to do, is to recall the importance of prophets, not just a long time ago, but today, those that he is sending today.  And so, let’s just look a little bit at some of the readings that we have today. We have this great Isaiah, the prophet Isaiah has a special place in Advent. And here we have a great example of this message of the hope, the hope of joy. On this Gaudete Sunday, he says, “the desert and the parched land will exalt. The steppe will rejoice and bloom. They will bloom with abundant flowers and rejoice with joyful song. They will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God.” So that’s amazing. It’s said very simply, but we can’t imagine what that will be. “They will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God. Strengthen the hands that are feeble. Make firm the knees that are weak, say to those whose hearts are frightened, be strong. Fear not. Here is your God. He comes with vindication, with divine recompense. He comes to save you. Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return and enter Zion, singing, crowned with everlasting joy,” everlasting joy. You know, there are joyful moments on this earth. Thanks be to God,there’s not enough of them. I think all of us would like if there were more. But they’re joyful moments, but so often they’re moments; they go by way too fast. We’d like to hold on to them and they go; but this is everlasting joy, everlasting joy. “Crowned with everlasting joy, they will meet, with joy and gladness. Sorrow and mourning will flee.” So just this prophecy, this one prophecy from Isaiah, is so amazing. And of course, it’s just one part of the prophecies of Isaiah, and Isaiah is just one part of these prophecies in Scripture, but these amazing prophecies, and so it’s hard, hard to believe. It takes a lot of faith to believe that, a lot of hope. But because we’re not, because what we’re living often is very different. And so James today, that passage, the second reading from James,very realistically talks about how hard it is to be waiting for that to happen. And he gives an example. He takes the prophets precisely as an example. “Take as an example of hardship and patience brothers and sisters, the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.” So that sounds like a great thing to be a prophet, to speak in the name of the Lord. But he says, “but they are examples of hardship and patience.” It’s not easy to announce the messages of the Lord. It’s hardship, and he says it requires a lot of patience. Patience. Oh, patience. That’s why I don’t ask the Lord for patience, because I’m afraid that he’ll get even worse and worse. So, I need patience, but I don’t want to ask Him for it. So, he’s emphasizing patience. And so, this is this realism of scripture, that the promise is very great, but we need patience. So, James goes on to say, “be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord.” Patient until the coming of the Lord. And then he takes an example. He says, “see how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains.” I kind of like to say, Yeah, but the farmer has some idea of when the crops are going to come, and it’s hard to know when the Lord is going to come. But James says, “you too, must be patient. Make your hearts firm, because the coming of the Lord is at hand.” The coming of the Lord is at hand. That’s that mysterious sense in scripture, where it’s because the messages that we’ve received often have expressions like that, which are very hard, often for us to understand. But that’s James also, and there’s a number of other passages in scripture like that. He says, “The coming of the Lord is at hand.” He says, “Behold, the judge is standing before the gates.” So, he’s speaking of how imminent that is. And certainly, each one of us face the Lord, face the judge at the end of this life, which we don’t know when that will be. But so, James is at the same time, he’s saying that the coming of the Lord is at hand, the judge is standing before the gates. And yet, at the same time he says, We have to be patient. So, there’s this mystery of the greatness of the Lord’s coming, that it’s imminent, and yet there is this difficult need for patience. And then we have John the Baptist. And Jesus says that, in the Gospel today, He says that John the Baptist is a prophet, and more than a prophet. And He says, “Behold, He is the one about whom it was prophesied. Behold, I am sending My messenger ahead of you. He will prepare your way before you.” So, in a sense, all the prophets were preparing for Jesus, but John, in a special way, is the one who prepares for Jesus. And yesterday, at our Mass, yesterday, Saturday, I shared a message that we had received, that Sister had received several years ago from John the Baptist, in which he talked about his trial of those many long years, and the terrible barrenness and solitude of the desert, but which was necessary to prepare the great graces that he was a messenger of. And today I want to share another message, and this is from one who was a disciple of John the Baptist before he became an apostle of the Lord, John the Evangelist. And so, I’ve been doing this recently. For me, I feel like it’s sharing a secret treasure, and that I sometimes hesitate to do this. But I think this treasure, these are messages that the Lord had given our community before we began publishing messages, but I think that the messages are not just for our community, but they’re for all those who are responding to the reconquest, the call for reconquest; and who are also people, whether people have been with the mission for some time, or people who just when they heard the messages, a lot of times, they’re people who are because I know that there’s people who listen to these homilies, who are living far away in other states or even in other countries, and but many of them have been also without knowing about the mission, but they’ve often been living in a similar way, this long, difficult waiting and preparation. And so, John is speaking about this, John the Evangelist, about precisely, about this trial of waiting. He lived it in a different way from John the Baptist, but he also lived it. He’ll speak of that, how he also lived this waiting for the Lord, because John the Evangelist also was a great prophet, especially through the Book of Revelation, which is another book, which is the great book, which talks about the coming of the Lord. And he says, where the Lord says, “I am coming soon.” But so there’s the great coming of the Lord, which is imminent. But we also know that that’s mysterious, because it was said many, many 1000s, well, 1000s of years ago. So, this message is a hope for those who are sharing this trial. So, here’s the message. So, this message was given during our annual community retreat. Every year the community makes a retreat, a little five-day retreat and the Lord has often given special messages for that retreat. So, this was in 2021, and the date was June 17th. “I, John of the seven churches.” The book of Revelation speaks of the seven churches. “I John of the seven churches, to the remnant Church in hiding,” to the remnant church in hiding. “My brothers, do not despair. Our God is faithful. My eyes have seen both the promise and its fulfillment. Clearly and yet veiled, for no created eyes can behold the entirety of truth until all is fulfilled. I have seen the glory and the terror, both on earth and in heaven. My king’s death on the cross and His glorious resurrection and ascension, the great battle to be unfolded with its multiple horrors and the certain victory of our God and the coming and restoration of all His creation and majesty. My brothers do not despair. All must happen at its appointed hour. All must be accounted for. I see the discouragement, sadness, anger, despair in your hearts, and I wish to encourage you. How many things I was granted to see and experience in my life, and yet how tedious and how long my last years seemed; how far from the fulfillment of what had been said to me. I too tasted the bitterness you drink in full now,” I too tasted the bitterness you drink in full now. “My brothers, your faith has grown like the cedars of Lebanon, giving shelter and shade to many, many, many. The storms come, but you stand firm. Your roots are embedded into the bedrock that is our Lord Jesus. What was said to me and written with such trepidation is being fulfilled now. Your missions complete mine. We work together even now across the centuries, for our God’s plan continues to unfold each day, each second. All of Heaven rejoices in your faith and steadfastness, for we are allowed to see its fruits and the glory to be bestowed upon you when you join us. My brothers, I say again, do not despair. You are surrounded by light, although you cannot see it. You are the living lamps set on high to guide the nations back to God, to say to all souls, come He is here. He awaits you. Have no fear. But being set on high means the separation of what is known and loved. It means the lowliness, the vulnerability, the visibility that makes one a bigger target for the hatred and attacks of our enemy.” Just a little comment on that – John the Gospel Jesus says that you are the lamps which are to be set on high. He says that to his disciples in the Gospel. And that’s a beautiful image. But here John, who heard Jesus say that, and who also lived that, had many long years of living that, gives us also a sense of the challenge, the trials that are involved with being a lamp set on high. So,let’s listen to what it says again. “But being set on high means the separation of what is known and loved. It means the lowliness, the vulnerability, the visibility that makes one a bigger target for the hatred and attacks of our enemy. Each of you would have died already had it not been for the protection of the holy angels and the shield of your faith and the protection of your missions. These missions are heavy, I know, and they grow heavier and heavier, especially because they are mysterious and unclear. All of heaven, all of creation, is anxious for your missions to be completed, and thus you have much help from all of us. My brothers, look up, the time is near. You are being readied for the hardships of battle. You will understand later why this time has been so painful. You are not alone. To me, was entrusted the announcement of the coming fulfillment of the plan of God, of His victory, of the restoration in full. To you is entrusted the weight of the waiting in faith.” So just to clarify, when he says to you is entrusted the weight – that’s W, E, I, G, H, T, the weight, the heaviness. “To you is entrusted the weight of the waiting in faith.” So that, and let me just pause there for a moment, the weight of the waiting in faith. So, that’s what this whole Advent calls the Church to live each year, the waiting in faith. And that’s what the readings and like that passage from St James that we had today, the need for perseverance and patience because of this waiting in faith. And as John says here, the weight, the heaviness, the burden that that waiting in faith has. And he says, that’s like our special task – “to you is entrusted the weight of the waiting in faith, and then the accomplishment of His plan.” That is encouraging, then the accomplishment of his plan. “I prayed for you as I was shown these times. And I pray for you still. My brothers have no fear of anything. For our God conquers all, He heals, all He saves all, He loves all; there is no fear in love. Though you do not feel it being a part of the great offering, you are not only surrounded by this infinite love, but it dwells in you, and you will soon savor what this means. I give you my priestly and brotherly blessing. Amen, He is coming, Maranatha. John the Beloved Disciple. To him, be all glory in the heavens and on earth.” Amen 

KEYWORDS / PHRASES:
Isaiah 35:1-6;10
James 5:7-19
Matthew 12:2-11