“Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

My Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

“Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

Gospel Reading Matthew 11:11-15 Jesus said to the crowds: “Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force. All the prophets and the law prophesied up to the time of John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, the one who is to come. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that there is none greater than John the Baptist; yet he is not as great as the least in the Kingdom of heaven. So if John is the greatest, how can somebody be greater. And who are the least in the Kingdom of heaven? This statement appears to be a contradiction. How can the least be greater than the greatest? Christ is telling us that John the Baptist is the last of the great profits who came to announce the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven. John the Baptist pointed us to the Messiah so that we would know that Christ is born. John the Baptist announces the end of the old covenant and the beginning of the new covenant. A covenant which is centered on the life of Christ and a communion with him in the Kingdom of heaven. Those that were Baptized under John the Baptist received a symbolic Baptism while those who were Baptized by Christ were Baptized into an eternal life. Those that are Baptized in the Holy Spirit are Baptized into the Kingdom of heaven. The sacraments that Christ brings forth from Baptism to the Anointing of the Sick help to bring us into full communion with the one Bread of Life. Therefore, those of us that experience Baptism, the Eucharist and Reconciliation are greater than those who could not because we are encountering the Kingdom of heaven here and now. Even though we are not as great as John the Baptist, we are greater in the Kingdom of heaven because of our rebirth into the one body of Christ.

As we celebrate Advent, we should keep our focus on the announcement of John the Baptist that we are living in the new kingdom, the kingdom created through Christ. We must realize that we are called by Christ as the Baptized to be missionaries of the Church and the Word of God. We must go out and announce the birth of Christ and invite people to share in the Sacraments. We can encounter Christ anytime we want be celebrating the Sacraments. We can rejoin ourselves with one body of Christ by celebrating the Eucharist, the source and summit of our faith.

A Simple Prayer

My Dearest Heavenly Christ, you are the Messiah who came to free me from eternal death.

You are the Sacrament which brought about the Kingdom of Heaven.

You are the new birth which gives me hope in an eternal life.

Yours in Christ

Michael Marcon