Water and Tears

Entering into the on-going conversion of Christian life

12/10/2017

Mark 1:1-8 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way. A voice of one crying out in the desert: "Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths." John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. People of the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins. John was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He fed on locusts and wild honey. And this is what he proclaimed: "One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

           An elderly priest was speaking to his young associate priest and said: “You had a good idea to replace the first four pews with plush bucket theater seats. It worked like a charm. The front of the church always fills up first now.” The young priest nodded, the old priest continued: “And you told me adding a little more beat to the music would bring young people back to church, so I supported you when you brought in that rock and roll gospel choir. Now, our services are consistently packed to the balcony.” The young priest said: “Thank you, Father.” The elderly priest added, “But I’m afraid you’ve gone too far with the drive-thru confessional.” The young priest protested: “But Father, my confessions and the donations have nearly doubled since I began that!” “Yes,” replied the elderly priest, “And I appreciate that. But the flashing neon sign that reads, “Toot and Tell or Go to Hell” cannot stay on the church roof.”

             That young priest needed to work on his delivery a little bit, but his heart was in the right place. That is, confession forms a critical part of the Christian life, which is a life of on-going conversion, in order to become more like Christ. In other words, it’s never just “one-and-done” for a follower of Christ, but rather we must relentlessly beginning again and again. The Catechism of the Catholic Church puts that young priest’s sentiments into more profound parlance, saying: “Christ’s call to conversion continues to resound in the lives of Christians. The second conversion (italics in the original) is an uninterrupted task for the whole Church.” Then the Catechism includes this stupendous saying from St. Ambrose, adding: “St. Ambrose says of the two conversions that, in the Church, ‘there are water and tears: the water of Baptism and the tears of repentance’” (Catechism, 1429). In other words, confession is like a second baptism, but in this case the holy water is not flowing from a fountain, but the holy water is flowing from the eyes, signaling sorrow, contrition and conversion. You gotta admit: “water and tears” sounds a little better than “toot and tell.”

             In the gospel today, St. John the Baptist appears in the desert; he is the precursor of Jesus, but he is also the precursor of that young priest. Why? Well, because John the Baptist comes preaching two things: baptism and repentance, that is, “water and tears.” Listen to how he distinguishes his own ministry from the ministry of Jesus, he says: “I have baptized you with water; he (meaning Jesus) will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” In other words, John will baptize with water, but Jesus will baptize with fire, with the fire of the Holy Spirit, that fire that fuels the second conversion, that on-going purification that takes our whole life. And what conversion we don’t finish in this life, will be our homework when we face the fires of Purgatory in the next life. But it will be the same fire of the Holy Spirit that cleanses us there as it does here. Toot and tell, water and tears, baptism by fire of the Holy Spirit, all these things indicate on-going conversion of the Christian to be more like Christ.

             I’m very grateful to Fr. Matt Garrison and Fr. Peter Le for the opportunity to celebrate Masses here this weekend and speak about Trinity Junior High, and ask your help in a second collection. There are so many things I could say about how wonderful Trinity Junior High is, but I just want to highlight one thing, namely, Trinity students have to go to confession twice a year, in Advent and in Lent. And I gotta tell you, I’m never more proud of them than when they go to confession. That may sound like an oxymoron: why be proud of someone when they confess their sins and stupidity?? But how proud and pleased was the father of the prodigal son in Luke 15, who ran to meet him and hugged him and dressed him in royal robes before the young man could even utter his confession? Multiply that by a million and you get a glimpse of how pleased God the Father is when we go to confession. Why? Well, it’s simple: that is when we are experiencing the second baptism, the holy water of tears, the fire of the Holy Spirit purifying our hard hearts of pride and lust, of laziness and vanity, of greed and gluttony, of envy and jealousy and anger.

              Here’s the really beautiful thing, though, about Trinity. We welcome students of all religious traditions to our school, and even those who may profess no faith at all and don’t believe in God. But sometimes even those students who are not Catholic feel the need to tell someone about something weighing on their hearts. That desire, too, is prompted by the “fire of the Holy Spirit,” and they, too, want to “toot and tell.” In other words, confession is not some exclusive property of Catholics, but rather a healthy part of any honest and genuine spiritual life. No wonder the “confession of sins” is the fifth step of the twelve-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous. That step states: “Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.” Trinity students are not alcoholics, but they go to confession because it is simply sound spirituality, healthy for the human heart. I would be remiss if I didn’t add we’re blessed with three Catholic elementary schools – Immaculate Conception, St. Boniface and Christ the King – where this same baptism by the Spirit occurs because they, too, have to go to confession.

              As we enter more deeply into the Advent season, remember that it is never simply “one-and-done” for Catholic Christians. One baptism is not enough. Yes we are baptized with water at our birth, but we must also be baptized with tears in a second conversion, a conversion that takes the rest of our lives.

Praised be Jesus Christ!