In last Sunday's gospel we encountered John the Baptist out in the desert preaching a strong word of repentance. Today, we find him in prison because he had condemned Herod for "stealing" his brother's wife.
My first thought about this story is, how hard it must have been for John who loved the open spaces of the desert to be locked up in jail. My second thought is that John the Baptist could act as the patron saint of all those who are in prison wrongfully.
Of course, the bigger story in this gospel is the crisis of faith that the great preacher of repentance is seemingly undergoing concerning the identity of Jesus. John had images of the Messiah as one who would judge and punish evildoers and destroy God's enemies, a Messiah who would be a mighty conqueror of the Romans. But in prison he hears about a very different kind of Messiah, one who is acting with great compassion, one who is befriending sinners and healing the sick. John is so confused that he asks his disciples to go and ask Jesus the question: "Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?" Can you imagine, this great man of God doubting if Jesus is really the Messiah?
Jesus response to John is not a direct 'yes' or 'no'. Rather, he says: "Go tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk----Jesus' response is a direct quote from Isaiah in which the great prophet describes what the Messiah will be about. In using Isaiah's words, Jesus is saying to John "if you knew your scriptures, you would not be surprised at how I am acting." Jesus' response to John ends with the words: "And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me" Here, Jesus is saying to John and his followers who expected a much more forceful Messiah, blessed are you who will be not offended or shaken up because I am not the kind of Messiah that you expected me to be.
In this event John is faced with a big decision: he could stubbornly hold onto the image he had of the Messiah or adjust his image and thinking to what Jesus was presenting. After years of investment in a particular image of what the Messiah would be like, it would not be easy for him to let go and embrace a whole new image, to replace his image of a tough, authoritative, judgmental type of a Messiah with a softer, gentler image. It seems that John made the adjustment. In John's gospel, John says to his disciples: "He (Jesus) must increase, I must decrease".
Application to Our Lives
This story has application to our lives on several levels. I'll mention a few and you will, no doubt, have your own levels of application.
God-Level
We may have been raised with a particular image of God or we may have particular expectations of God. For example; "if I say my prayers, go to church, follow the commandments, God will take care of me". Then something like Sept 11th happens to me or to a family member. Results, my long-held image of God watching out for me, a good Catholic is blown to pieces. Now, I, like John have a decision to make: I can become bitter at God for failing to uphold his side of the bargain or I can adjust my image of God which now includes a God who allows bad things to happen to good, faithful people.
Church-Level
Pre-Vatican II Catholics were raised with an image of church that was stable and unchanging. Everything around them could change but not the church; it was the one bastion of stability. Then came the 78 year old John XXIII who in his old age decides that it was time to open up the windows of the church and let in some fresh air. To many Catholics it seems that a hurricane blew in and now the church that was the symbol of stability in a fast changing world was suddenly changing in all kinds of ways. Once again, Catholics were faced with a decision: to stubbornly stick with long held images of church or to adjust to some new images that the Holy Spirit was presenting.
Doctrine-Level
Most, if not all of us, who were raised Catholic grew up believing in the existence of God, in the divinity of Jesus, in his Real Presence in the Blessed Eucharist, in the Perpetual Virginity of Mary, in the existence of an afterlife, in Papal infallibility. Then somewhere along the way we may have started to doubt one or more of the above doctrines. This can be unnerving to move from a stable set of beliefs to ones that I now have all kinds of questions about.
Here my decision may be to stay in my doubt or to start exploring my beliefs with the hope of coming to an adult understanding of them. Many Catholics try to go through life with a grade school understanding of their faith. For some this works, but for others it does not. Of course, this maturing process involves not just some extra reading and religious adult classes but also, prayer in which we ask the Holy Spirit to lead us into the truth.
Moral-Level
As Catholics, especially those of us raised in the pre Vatican II age, we were taught sex outside of marriage was a mortal sin, as was masturbation. Divorce was wrong, abortion was wrong and artificial birth control was wrong. Homosexuals were seen as perverts. (Of course, the moral life includes a lot more than sexual issues, but for most Catholics these are the conflict issues that lead to a crisis of conscience). The so called sexual revolution that took place in the 60's changed the way a lot of Catholics viewed these issues. The church was seen by many Catholics as outdated. As a result many Catholics started not only to engage in premarital sex, but also, started to cohabit prior to marriage. It is said that about 80% of Catholics practice some form of artificial birth control and many think abortion is okay especially in some situations. Many Catholics today accept a gay lifestyle as normal.
For many good Catholics this whole moral crisis started when Pope Paul VI issued Humanae Vitae, in which he condemned all methods of artificial birth control. Many Catholics, including theologians and high-ranking bishops, favored a change coming in this area of the church's moral teaching. When it didn't come, a moral crisis occurred overnight. Many Catholics who could not in good conscience follow Humanae Vitae felt banned from holy communion and stopped going to church. Other Catholics with the help of caring pastors weathered the storm better. They learned a lot about the primacy of an informed conscience in matters of morality.
When we experience a crisis of conscience with regard to church doctrine and moral teaching, the immature response is rebellion, the attitude that says: "I don't care what the church teaches; I'll do what I like". The more mature attitude uses the crisis as a stepping stone or opportunity for growth. We decide to read, explore, dialog, and pray and then come to a mature decision about a particular doctrine or belief.
Relationship Crisis/Midlife Crisis
As most, if not all of you who are married, know every relationship or almost every relationship can also experience a crisis. Along the journey of marriage, one or both spouses may wonder if they want to be married anymore. Their expectations of marriage are not being fulfilled. Coupled with this relationship crisis may be the famous mid life crisis, in which a man or woman feels a need to go 'find him/herself'. They may wonder or doubt their religious and moral beliefs, they no longer experience fulfillment in work or in marriage. They no longer seem to know who they are or what life is all about.
The Chinese word for crisis has a double translation: danger and opportunity. Every crisis experience can be a danger or opportunity. The danger is that we go a bit crazy and throw out solid beliefs and practices or to we may prematurely opt out of relationships. The opportunity is that a crisis can lead to tremendous new growth in several areas of our lives. The couple who experiences a marital crisis can throw away a marriage with lots of potential or they can go to counseling, begin to pray for their marriage etc. and most likely, come to a whole new experience of each other. The choice is always ours.
Reflection Questions
1) Have you ever had one of the above mentioned crises, if so what resources helped you to cope with the crisis?
2) Over the years have you had to adjust your image of God? If so, how?