A Voice Crying Out in the Wilderness

Our priest had such a wonderful homily about this ... too bad that he won't let anyone transcribe the tapes to actually write down what he said. He's just as stubborn as I am and that's really saying' somthing.

It's doubly too bad because not only would all of us like the chance to revisit his words, but we sit in the middle of a gaggle of old ladies. They all sit up front but still can't hear what he says. They all ask each other afterward, "What did Fr. L. say that was so funny?" And no one knows ... except us and we can't transcribe from memory, sadly enough. Then they all ask each other why Fr. L. doesn't have these written down. And we all shake our heads at his humility ... which costs them the chance of getting the homily and the rest of us the chance to benefit additionally from his words.

But enough of my complaining ... (finally! I hear y'all saying).

He made a point on Sunday that was vivid enough for me to remember and pass alone.

These are not rhetorical questions!

Who here remembers the first time they saw Star Wars? I want a show of hands.

Remember when we saw all those people moving around in the corridor? And then there was an explosion and the tall man all in black came in? Was there any doubt in anyone's mind that he was the villain? Did anyone think, "Well, maybe he just likes to make a big entrance." No one doubted that he was the arch villain, did they?

Was there any doubt in anyone's mind that the fresh faced young man in white was the hero? We all knew he was the hero.

Now this question is just for you ladies (directed to the Catholic Daughters of America who were all sitting up front and had an average age of 70).

Do you remember the beginning of The Lone Ranger on TV? We saw the man on his white horse. We heard the William Tell Overture in the background. Was there any doubt that he was the good guy? Even though he wore the black mask, we knew he was the good guy, right?

And that is how it was with John the Baptist.

He wore very odd clothes, he ate an unappealing diet of locusts and wild honey. He told the people that they needed to repent. He lived in the desert. The Israelites knew that living in the desert didn't just mean it was a sandy, hot place. They knew that the desert was a place of testing, of trial, of getting closer to God.

All those things were unmistakable. John the Baptist was a prophet. He was there to tell them what God wanted them to hear.

And, darn it, that's all I can remember because Fr. L. made a big entrance into the homily and ... neither Tom or I can remember any more.

However, it does dovetail nicely with Disputation's commentary about the Sunday Gospel reading ... so just duck over there next (if you've hung on this long) and see what he says about prophets in the desert.