Gospel Reflection for Sunday the 5th of December 2021
Second Sunday of Advent
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Luke 3:1-6
Everybody knows the popular quiz show – Who wants to be a Millionaire. It is famous all over the world, even inspiring the Oscar winning film – Slumdog Millionaire. Today its host is Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear fame … but the classic that I grew up with was hosted by the inimitable Chris Tarrant.
It was sitting opposite Chris Tarrant that Judith Koppel became a British sensation and went down in history as the first person in Britain and the first woman to answer all fifteen questions and win the £1,000,000 prize.
Her £1,000,000 question was – Which King was married to Eleanor of Aquitaine … (a) Henry I, (b) Henry II, (c) Richard I or (d) Henry V.
The drama of that show was unbelievable. As you might be aware, there were three life- lines … you could phone a friend; you could do a fifty/fifty taking away some wrong answers; or you could ask the audience. But then it came down to a choice and Judith chose option b – Henry II. There is a moment before the answer freezes and in that moment, putting the player in a psychological bind … the host will often say – you can still change your mind. If you are right, you stand to win £1,000,000 … BUT if you are wrong, you will lose £468,000. Huge amounts at stake. You can still change your mind and go home with a significant prize. But not the big one. Tantalizing!
In our gospel, St. John the Baptist is preaching a gospel of repentance. Repentance is an English translation of the original Gospel in the Greek language. The word in Greek is ‘metanoia’ and it literally means – change of mind. Of course, since we Christians understand the interdependence of mind and heart, change of mind also influences the heart. The most appropriate word for ‘metanoia’ is conversion – a complete make-over. The English word repentance stresses the turning away from the path of sin back towards God. But John the Baptist appears and he places before the people of his day and us too, a radical choice. In a sense, it is a fifty-fifty. To become a disciple – and to follow the path of the Lord or to tread your own path and make your own waves. Perhaps we would ask the audience first … consult with those around us. Perhaps our parents have raised us to fear God.
Perhaps not. The voice of the world, certainly in these times, calls us to make our own name and to put our star in the lights. And so asking the audience doesn’t often give us clarity. Could you phone a friend? Your friend John the Baptist is very clear – repent. Choose the Lord. Our version of phoning a friend is prayer. And in praying, you have already made your choice … since our prayer is to ask God … show me what you want me to do … or thy will be done. Prayer is already an act of conversion.
Perhaps the easiest way to make this decision is to look at the prize on offer. As Pascal taught in his famous wager – if you choose God and he exists, you have won the jackpot. If he doesn’t exist, you will still have lived a meaningful and good life. If you choose against God and he doesn’t exist – there is still no heavenly prize. It is still game over. But if you choose against God and he does exist, you stand to lose it all. Which option will you choose?
-Fr Vincent Stapleton CC