My dear parishioners, many persons feel that a right relationship with God means a casual relationship between equals. There are many things wrong with this thought. For one, it is a naive and human-centric perception. And second, with respect to the divine realm, a relationship of substantial and personal equality is reserved only to the three divine persons of the most Holy Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Consider how our Lord Jesus Christ, although like us in all things, is not merely human but human and divine. Though made to be sin for our sake, he himself was wholly without sin. We, human creatures, are sinful. We are not equal to God.

We shudder to think that God would expect the best of us, desiring to be the shepherd of our immortal souls. We swallow the conceit that God--however one may perceive him--has retired far away from the world to contemplate his own tired ideas. Or perhaps, like a dying star, he possesses just enough light to illumine celebrity rock concerts in the name of ecology and third-world factory conditions. In point of fact, when human beings, in the name of relationship, demand equality without responsibility, political and class divisions are not only perpetuated but worsened in their societies.

John the Baptizer explodes the fiction that God is merely a passive observer who long ago gave up active and direct intervention in the moral affairs of man. He calls mankind out of its lethargy. His message is urgent. Examine your lives. Repent of your sinful ways. Seek the forgiveness of God. The baptizer testifies that one cannot obtain meaning in life by living as if the “moral” did not exist. Rather, life acquires its meaning precisely through the voluntary renunciation of the “imperial self” and embracing moral selfdiscipline.

Christians are called to reject the inherently lazy and self-serving idolatry of self. Our Lord Jesus Christ invites us to believe and to interiorize the truthful message that all things were made through, with, and in him. The preposition “through” clearly refers to the mediation of Christ who, with the Father and the Spirit, accomplishes the creation of all that is seen and unseen. Jesus Christ empowers everyone who receives his gospel message to become children of his Father. Do you have the courage to journey through him, with him, and in him to make your eternal home in the Father's glory? To be a true disciple, you are "born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” [Jn 1:13] Only by your own conversion can you secure spiritual freedom and thereby, critically judge the worth of your personal character, your contribution to society, and the efficacy of social institutions which claim to serve the oppressed. Time is not an apostle of salvation. There is not a moment to lose.

John the Baptizer challenges human beings to change, to be honest, and to make their way of life holy. From his abode in the desert, the prophet is able to see with startling clarity the ills and troubles of his society. He opposes his people's spiritual complacence and dishonesty. He puts no stock in claims of entitlement or privilege. Rather, he rouses them to work for their salvation. Reform your intentions and repent of your sins, he declares. Sincerely in the hearts of Jesus and Mary. Your pastor, Reverend Richard Barker