Is 11;1-10
Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17
Rom 15:4-9
Mt 3:1-12
There is no reason to doubt the existence of John the Baptist, a kinsman of Jesus through his mother who was a relative of Mary, Mother of Our Lord. Mentioned in all four gospels as well as Acts of the Apostles, in what scripture scholars call multiple attestation, John is also described in sources outside of scripture, especially the writings of one Josephus.
Josephus was an historian of the times who was neither a Jew nor a follower of Jesus.
Though details of accounts vary across sources they are all compatible rather than contradictory. Josephus wrote, “He was a good man who encouraged the Jews to lead righteous lives, to practice justice toward their fellow men, and piety toward God, and in so doing to join in baptism.’ The practices of justice and piety towards God were necessary for the baptism to be acceptable to God”
Unlike some depictions in paintings, on the stage, and in opera, John was not a proto-hippie. As described in the gospels, his dress and diet were typical of any desert dweller of the time. The skins were necessary for warmth during cold desert nights. The diet can be easily explained by noting that he was keeping kosher. According to Josephus, John was a good man who preached a baptism of repentance. One analysis notes that no man is more important for understanding the historical Jesus than is John the Baptist.
Not only was John the herald of Jesus—the voice crying out in the desert as prophesied by Isaiah—it was not until His baptism by John, that Jesus’ divine identity was revealed and His public ministry begun. We will hear the baptism narrative in a few weeks. John the Baptist will be debated forever. However, with baptism John initiated a new liturgy within Judaism.
There is no agreement about the nature or meaning of that baptism, Was it a baptism of forgiveness or a baptism of purification? There was nothing resembling it in Jewish liturgical practices of the day. The ritual of baptism itself heralded a new age.
The more one reads about John the Baptist the more apparent it becomes that most of what is known’ about him, his motivation, his self-awareness, and his understanding of Jesus, represents more the writers’ projections onto and biases about John, than they do verifiable facts. Jesuit Father John O’Malley, the great Jesuit historian was fond of saying, ‘there is no history, only historians.’
It is the historians who decide what they are going to write about, what sources they will use, what information they will pay attention to, what information they will ignore, and how they will present it.’ In general the more ancient the history the more subjectively biased is the information given by the historian.
Jesus instructs his hearers in today’s gospel, “Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’” This short sentence was later expanded in the Letter of James. “Be doers of the word not hearers only; what good is it if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Simply saying “we have Abraham as our father” was not a get-out-of-jail-free card. It did not excuse wrong action. Today, loudly proclaiming that one has faith in Jesus or that Jeeeeeezus is my savior, without living out the demands of that faith, is not a get-out-of-jail-free card either.
John's message was uncompromising. It was the opposite of one of the saddest words
used in the U.S. today: "Whatever." John's message is not a 'whatever.' John's message is that 'this is the sure path you must follow.' In time that message cost him his life.
Paul wrote “What was written previously was written for our instruction, that by endurance and by the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Welcome one another, then, as Christ welcomed you, for the glory of God.” If we are able to live out those words we will help bring about the peace prophesied in the first reading by Isaiah.
We face many choices during Advent. The important choices do not include colored lights or clear, what kind of cookies do I make, or, where can I find the biggest flat screen TV for the lowest price? The choices are how to live out our faith. How to live that faith in an attitude of repentance and conversion of heart, and to say with the psalmist:
“May his name be blessed forever;
as long as the sun his name shall remain.
In him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed;
all the nations shall proclaim
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One of the single greatest experiences I've had with the camera was being snowed in for three days on Mt. Equinox in Vermont. The total amount to fall in 24 hours was about 17 inches. This was at 2500 feet elevation. When I was able to drive down from the mountain, dreading having to clean off the car I was shocked. No snow. None. A very easy drive home on dry roads.
While on the mountain I had access to an SUV. It turns out I was the only thing moving on the mountain. The snow was soft and fluffy and, in the absence of wind, piled up and stayed. Below are a few of the photos out of the hundreds I took.
A perfect canopy 
The road to the monastery about 1 1/2 miles away. It was a bit of a thrill to create the tracks. 
A small stream near my quarters. 
A holding pond that is part of the hydroelectric generation. Water flows from a dam just behind where I was shooting, and continues to flow downhill. 
The entrance to the monastery. 
Monastic graveyard. The silence this particular day was total.
Fr. Jack, SJ, MD
