On the third Sunday of Advent in 2010 I attended mass at St. Procopius Abbey with the abbot, Fr. Austin Murphey. As a disclaimer (and I always feel I should put this in), this was NOT the only Sunday where I have gone to mass at the abbey or other churches but I have made notes about the content of this particular sermon and have decided to present it here.

The gospel for this Sunday has John the Baptist in prison sending his disciples to Jesus to ask if he is the Messiah or should they look for someone else.

I always thought this was a pretty weird passage: John's Jesus's cousin, he's baptized him in the Jorden and publically acknowledged him to be "the Lamb of God." So what's this question about?

The Abbot noted that John preached a gospel of repentance and the justice and judgement of God: The time is at hand. Reform your lives. Repent your sins and be saved! The Messiah is coming and he will separate the wheat from the chaff. And the chaff will be burned up! So John talks about justice and how the Messiah will bring it in a judgement of those who do evil. (Much symbolism is from the prophets.)

Jesus's answer to John's question comes from the book of the prophet Isaiah: "Tell him what you see. The blind see. The lame walk. The deaf hear. The poor have the good news preached to them." (Okay that's not a perfect quote but maybe you get the idea.)

Here Jesus is talking healing and mercy. So John uses terms from Isaiah and the prophets that rail against injustice and how God will come to bring the world to justice. And Jesus uses the words from Isaiah that speak of mercy.

Generally people foucs on one part and neglect the other. It's either "Judgement is coming!" or "Don't worry, Jesus forgives you no matter what." In the former we are confronted with a vengful God out to get us. In the latter God is reduced to just a mellow "good guy."

But the Abbot advised that it is our responsibility to see both sides. God will bring judgement: No, not everything is "okay." But God is also a God of infinite mercy so if we try and be just and merciful we can know that mercy awaits us and we will have no fear of judgement if we have been just and followed the commendments. When we fail and sin we must remind ourselves we need to acknowledge our failures and turn back to God trusting in His mercy.

It is the balance here that is important.