Homily for Advent 4, 2021 - Kerygma Homily 4 of 4

 

Homily for December 19, 2021

Advent 4 – Kerygma 4 of 4

Will You Follow Him?

 

            Catholics are really bad at praying out loud. I know that’s a huge generalization, but I’ve found it to be true. When I teach my freshmen and sophomore theology classes, I have one of the kids start off with a prayer…and not a pre-written prayer, either. They usually say something like this: “Dear God…um…um…thank You…um…and help us in this class. Amen.”

            Why do I bring this up? Because this fourth part of the kerygma, the basic Gospel message, is to have a daily, living relationship with Jesus Christ. And a living relationship is about more than just reciting pre-written prayers – it’s about sharing your entire life with the Lord Jesus.

            We’ve heard over the last few weeks the core of the Gospel message: that God loves us deeply, personally, passionately; but that all of us have sinned and have strayed away from Him; but that Jesus Christ paid the price for our reconciliation by His death on the Cross. But that salvation is only applied to our souls if we receive Christ through faith and a living relationship with Him.

            This same Jesus Who was born in a manger is still alive, forever and ever. Because He is alive, we can have a relationship with Him. But what does that look like, practically? Our response to His incredible love involves four things.

            First, we accept Jesus into our life. In the 1850s, a man named William Hunt painted a famous painting of Jesus knocking on someone’s door – you may have seen it before. It was based off of Revelation 2 where Jesus says, “Behold I stand at the door and knock.” But when the painting was unveiled, some people objected to the artist and said, “You painted the door wrong. There is no door handle on the outside.” The artist responded, “Exactly – you can only open the door to Jesus from the inside.” Our Lord is a gentleman and He will never force His way into our life. He waits for us to surrender – a simple prayer such as, “Jesus, I am Yours, do with me as You will” can invite Christ in.

            Second, we take time daily to speak with Him in prayer. More than just reciting words, it means putting our heart and soul into a conversation with God. Think of how stilted it would be if a husband says to his wife, “Hi Honey…I love you…very much.” She would say, “Do you even mean it?” Prayer from the heart means speaking to Jesus as you would speak to a friend – tell Him your joys and sorrows, share your burdens and worries, ask for His forgiveness, tell Him how much you love Him. It’s fine to say pre-written prayers as long as we mean them from our hearts, just as a man might quote Shakespeare passionately towards his wife, “How do I love thee, let me count the ways…” We can make the prayer “our own” – “Our Father…yes, Lord, I know that You are my Father…Who art in Heaven…my true home is with You in Heaven forever…hallowed be Thy Name…yes, Lord, let your Name be praised for all eternity…” The important thing is that we are truly speaking with God Himself!

            Third, we re-orient our lives toward His will. This means obeying Him and His teachings through the Church. At the end of our lives, either we have said to God, “Your will be done” and we enter Heaven – or God will say to us, “Your will be done” and we enter Hell. There is a beautiful, powerful story told by Fr. Karl Goldmann, an Army chaplain during World War II who was imprisoned along with his brigade in a Prisoner-of-War camp. One of his fellow soldiers was a man who really wrestled with the faith – he would meet with Fr. Goldmann after hours and question him endlessly, searching for the truth. One day, the sad news came to the camp that this soldier’s hometown had been bombed heavily and his whole family, wife and kids, were found dead in the rubble. The soldier, upon hearing the news, went back to his barracks…but a few hours later, no one could find him. Everyone feared that he had killed himself in despair and sorrow. Fr. Goldmann joined in the search for the soldier – and much to his surprise, he found the man in the tent that had been serving as their makeshift chapel. He had flung himself on the altar and was gripping the crucifix as if his life depended on it. Fr. Goldmann compassionately approached the man and asked him if he could pray with him. The soldier responded, “Yes, Father. I need you to help me pray those words from the Our Father: Thy Will Be Done.” Together, they recited the Our Father for hours together, until the man could say those words with complete serenity of heart: “Thy Will Be Done.” He walked out of the chapel-tent with a sorrowful but peaceful heart – having surrendered everything to God. When we have a living relationship with Jesus, we surrender everything to Him.

            Fourth, we seek to imitate Him. As St. Gregory of Nyssa once said, “A Christian is another Christ.” There’s a famous story of a young boy watching Michaelangelo carve his famous statue of David. As the statue started to take shape, the boy asked, “Wow! How did you know he was in there?” And the great artist replied, “I just took away anything that wasn’t him.” Having that deep, personal friendship with Christ means chipping away everything in ourselves that isn’t Him.

            Now, after hearing the Kerygma – the Gospel message – for the past four weeks, we are left with a choice. Some of us have already chosen to follow Jesus. Some of us may be sitting here and thinking, “I was baptized and confirmed, that’s good enough!” Baptism and confirmation may make us Catholics, but they don’t necessarily make us disciples, followers of Jesus – both Hitler and Stalin were baptized and confirmed Catholics! It takes a choice to follow Jesus. And now the choice is yours. Some of us may be unsure of what we believe – that’s okay, just bring those struggles and doubts to Jesus. But wherever you’re at, Jesus is ready to meet you there with healing, mercy, forgiveness, joy…salvation.

            So we’re going to take a few moments of silent prayer. If you’re already a follower of Christ, reaffirm your desire to follow Him. If you want to be a follower of Jesus, in the silence of your heart, welcome Him into your life. If you’re not sure, tell Jesus honestly. But the Kerygma, the Gospel message, demands a response. Will you say yes?