The Third Sunday in Advent
Year B

There was a Woman Sent from God Whose Name was Ann

Readings: Isaiah 61:1-4, 6-11; Canticle of Mary; 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-24; John 1:6-8 

Robert Fulgham, best known for his book “All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten”, wrote a very funny short story about vocation.  He relates that in his travels he often meets people who invariably ask him what he does.  What they expect is that he will produce a business card that explains his role.  That does not sit well with him, because it can never adequately express who he is on any particular day.  Today for example he might be a singer, although, he points out, people are more likely to pay him not to sing.  Then he goes on to say something very important for us to learn.  “What I do is literally how I spend my time.

He now has a business card, because he has finally figured out what to put on it.  One word! Fulgham! His name.  “What I do,” he says, “is to be the most Fulgham I can be.  I and you – we are infinite, rich, large, contradictory, living, breathing miracles – free human beings, children of God and the everlasting universe.  That’s what we do.” 

Vocation is rooted in God as God’s gift.  Knowing who we are, and whose we are, answering God’s call, can bring us to a true sense of joy.  It is not about a spiritual high, but about a joy at the centre of our being, which assures us that all the incongruities of life, suffering, despair, everything, is in God’s hands.  That leaves us free to be everything we are meant to be. 

That is what the readings this Sunday point out.  “There was a man sent from God whose name was John,” we read in the Gospel.  God sent him to prepare the way for the one who would come after, to prepare for the Messiah.  He went out into a desert place, a world in which there was conflict, evil, poverty and oppression.  He felt alone in his call, a voice crying out in the wilderness.  But he was a voice with a voice.  His was a voice to be reckoned with.  He called for repentance, for conversion.  His call went out, not to those you might think.  He did not preach a message to perpetrators of violence.  He did not preach a message to unbelievers.  His call went to the church going people whose faith called them out into the desert place in which he preached.  There they heard a difficult message.  John was sent to preach repentance.  His was a call to transform their lives, and through that transformation to bring about a change in all of society.  He knew that such change began with an inner transformation.  That always begins with understanding who you are and who God has called you to be.   

Some centuries earlier a man was sent from God.  God sends people in every age.  This man’s name was Isaiah.  He was anointed by God to bring good news to oppressed people.  They were a people in exile.  Many had lost their way.  They had drifted far from God.  He responded to the call of God.  He knew that he was called to a servant ministry.  He called the people of Israel back into relationship with God.  He understood his task to help people discover the purpose and vocation to which God was calling them.  He took up the daunting task of reminding the people of Israel about that purpose. 

Another man was sent from God.  His name was Paul.  He was called to be a joyful proclaimer of God’s word, even under the most difficult circumstances.  He knew that God was calling the Thessalonians into difficult circumstances where they faced persecution.  This fledgling church, new converts to the faith, had a difficult life.  Paul told them not to simply say their prayers, but to pray unceasing.  He knew that their prayers needed to become an attitude of mind and soul.  He knew that they needed to live in unbroken relationship with God.  He knew that if they lived in such a way, if they accepted their call to be people of prayer, that it would strengthen them at times of difficulty.  He knew that if their primary lens saw life as a gift of God, then they would be much more capable of looking on the difficult times as a gift.  He knew that he was called, first and foremost, to be Paul, servant of Christ.  

Like John we are called, each one of us, testify to the light.  The problem is that we may feel as if everything is in darkness.  What kind of a world do we live in?  People who proclaim a gospel of love are taken hostage and threatened with death.  Violent acts take place on our city streets.  Young people kill young people.  We hear about poverty and sickness.  We see so much evil going on in the world.  We feel as John did that we are a single voice crying out in the wilderness.  We think that no amount of talking could ever make our voice heard.  We feel alone.  At such moments we need to remember that God is with us.  As Christians we are called to focus on the light of the world and on the transformation that it has brought about and continues to bring about in our lives and in the world. 

There was a woman sent from God whose name was Ann.  This is where you put in your own name.  She was called to pray and sing and love and preach.  She was called to be a daughter, a sister, a friend, a companion.  She was called to be a secretary, a teacher, a cleaning lady, a nurse.  She was called to do many things, but above all she was called to be the best Ann she could possibly be.  She was called to testify to the light of God coming into the world. 

We cannot prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ at Christmas without acknowledging what lies behind the manger.  Behind the manger is the shadow side of Christmas, for behind the manger is the cross of Christ.  God has come to this planet.  Emmanuel, God with us! We respond to God with us by being everything we are meant to be.  Amen.