Now remember what I told you about Mark’s Gospel. It is the barebones gospel so you have to add all the extra elements. So that forces us to ask ourselves how would this man who lived intensely in the desert act when he arrived on scene. The answer is intensely. A rugged powerful,  ferocious man who had a vision of what was coming and knew the intensity of the mission. It would not surprise me if I learned that he foresaw the destruction of the temple and even the eternal consequences of those who rejected Christ; hence why he was working to ensure he could lead to salvation as many as possible. He spoke intensely and urgently. He preached knowing a powerful change was coming and people had to get ready.

Think of yourself standing on Wollaston Beach and suddenly seeing the tide go out quickly so that you could walk to Long Island. You, hopefully, know two things:
A) What that means
B) Hopefully it never happens.

How would you react? I do not think you would say: “Golly Gee, I think we are going to be hit by a Tsunami. Let me call 911 on my cell phone.” I hope you would start screaming Run and tell people to get off the peninsula Now!!!!!.

Imagine that kind of intensity speaking the words that John the Baptist spoke and now you know the scene. “Repent!!”

Why is this Gospel important. The answer is obvious. It is Advent and it is the time for us to focus  on the Second coming of Jesus as we remember the First Coming of Jesus at the First Christmas. However, if we need to ask the question, if John the Baptist proclaimed the coming of Christ the First time, who is the John the Baptist now?

The answer is the same one I said last week when I spoke of you being the gatekeepers and the sentinels. You are also the Prophets. The Church, which is you and I and all the Baptized Catholics is the John the Baptist of today. You and I have been called to prophetic living. That is what you and I were called to at our respective Baptism.

This is why, we truly have to understand our call in light of the Church of today.

Once we understand that we have been called to be prophets, we can begin to understand Catholic morality. I do not always teach on Catholic morality so I am not one of those priests who preaches on sin every week. There is a reason for this. Let us take some of the moral issues of our time. People will tell you that those who commit certain sins go to Hell and those who do not go to Heaven. That is too simple. The implication is that those who do not commit certain sins are going to Heaven. That is close, but not exactly what the Bible says. What it actually says is that those who recognize Christ as their Lord and conform their lives to His will, go to Heaven.

Therefore, it is not a matter of do not commit that sin so that you may go to Heaven. It is be the prophet that Christ called you to be. Our morality is based on prophetic living. Therefore, the issue is not to focus on abstaining from sin, you can be an atheist and do that, it is to focus on being prophetic in the way you live. So living Catholic morality is living prophetically. It is to be prayerful, faithful people rooted in Catholic morally. The reason is that you have a message which for this country is almost gone silent. Christ is coming.

What we are really saying is sometime between now and one hundred fifteen years from now, everyone in this Church here is going to meet Christ. I say one hundred and fifteen years because that is the longest any human has ever  lived. So everyone within that time will be standing in front of Christ. Be ready for that moment. That is the meaning of our prophetic living. First we preach to ourselves and then we preach to others that this time is coming. That is where our Catholic morality is rooted in prophetic living. Someone can say of others that their faith has changed its morality, why can’t ours. That is because we have a special call to prophetic living. It is right in your baptismal promises. You share in Christ’s ministry of priest,  prophet and king.

Are you living prophetically? Are you choosing to conform your will to that of Christ and His church or are you falling for the propaganda that leads you down the road to manipulation in the name of breads and circuses? Are you rooted in Christ enough to discern the difference between the Catholic morality that leads to life and the worldly morality that leads to making you an agent of a manipulative narcissistic agenda? That’s why being humble before it opens you to a deeper understanding of who you are and freedom.

This should change our moral focus all around. Our morality is rooted in our vocation which is to prophetic living. For we are the John the Baptists of today. That should reveal to you why strengthening your position as a Catholic is essential. Strengthening your prayer life, strengthening your moral life, strengthening your prophetic life. We, through our lives, have a message to proclaim and that message is to know Christ and get ready to meet Him for someday you will be standing right before him.