Splitting the Uprights

 

Avoiding missing left and right in our preaching

12/07/2025

Matthew 3:1-12 John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said: A voice of one crying out in the desert, Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. John wore clothing made of camel's hair and had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. At that time Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region around the Jordan were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins.

In a homily a few weeks ago I mentioned that Bishop Taylor had assigned Deacon Quinton Thomas to I.C. for the spring of 2026. But like a college coach who makes a last minute change, Bishop Taylor has substituted Deacon Christopher Elser for Deacon Quinton Thomas. But Dc. Christopher is familiar with such game-time decisions because a few years ago he was the place kicker for the Arkansas Razorback football team. Now Christopher is kicking for Christ.

I asked Dc. Christopher a few questions so I could introduce him to you before he arrives. When I asked what he likes to eat, he said: “My favorite food is Asian, particularly Vietnamese food!” Well, coming to Fort Smith, the good deacon has practically set foot in Saigon with all our fabulous Pho food!

When I asked about music, he replied: “The music I listen to is smooth jazz, tracks from Disney movies, and hits for the 2010’s.” Jokingly, I asked him what the Razorback football team needed to do to win a national championship and he replied: “Call the legendary Nick Saban and ask for his prayers and advice!” I can’t disagree with that.

Lastly, I asked Dc. Christopher what he enjoys doing as a deacon and looks forward to as a priest. He answered: “My favorite thing about being a deacon is the privilege to baptize. As a priest, my favorite thing will be offering Mass for the people of God and the whole world.” Pretty good answers, don’t you think?

But one thing Dc. Christopher did not mention was the task of preaching, and incidentally he is a very gifted homilist. This past summer he delivered a homily at the priests’ retreat in Subiaco and impressed all the priests. Now, I gotta tell you, most of us priests on retreat punt on preaching and don’t preach to our peers. Can you guess why? Well, it’s a lot easier being a shepherd to the sheep than a shepherd to the shepherds who think they know it all.

But Dc. Christopher took the pulpit and his homily was like a 50-yard field goal easily splitting the uprights. You see, we priests (like most people in the pews) are waiting to see if a preacher is going to lean right and be conservative, or lean left and be liberal. But Dc. Christopher’s message went right down the middle, just preaching “Jesus Christ and him crucified”, as Paul said in 1 Cor 2:2.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church in no 888, calls preaching the “first task” of the clergy, and by the way, it is the hardest task. Think about preaching in these terms. A retiring CEO gave an incoming CEO some advice, saying: “95% of the decisions you make as a CEO can be made as well by a relatively intelligent 17-year old. But you will be paid for the other 5%.”

Likewise, most of the things deacons and priests do can be done by a relatively intelligent – and ordained – young man. But we are paid for the other 5%, namely, by our preaching. And when we get in the pulpit to preach, our message should split the uprights and not shank it to the right or to the left.

In the gospel today we hear about the greatest preacher of all time, St. John the Baptist. Indeed, his first task, and his only task, was to preach and prepare the people for the coming of the Word-made-Flesh. St. Matthew records: “John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

John’s preaching, like Deacon Christopher’s, was not trying to curry the favor of liberal or conservatives, but only trying to please God. If John had been a punter for the Razorbacks, he would have split the uprights, not shanking it to the right or to the left. John fulfilled his “first task” of preaching and he was paid handsomely for it with the crown of martyrdom.

My friends, you may not be ordained as a deacon or a priest. And yet, we all have the first task to share the good news with others by virtue of our baptism. How so? Well, at our baptism, we are anointed on the crown of the head the oil of Sacred Chrism instituting us priests, prophets, and kings. Therefore we too are charged with the solemn obligation of evangelizing the world.

But are we preaching “Jesus and him crucified” or our own particular brand of Catholicism? For instance, there may be some teachings and doctrines we like, so we are happy to talk to people about them. But we keep our mouths shut about other doctrines we don’t like. Our faith becomes a sort of cafeteria Catholicism – Hey, load me up on mercy, please hold the justice and eternal damnation – are we preaching Jesus Christ, or just John Antony?

I remember in seminary I was very conservative, I tried to show it by always wearing a white shirt and black pants. That stark uniform reflected my mindset: everything was black or white. At the time, my vocation director asked me to take a year off from seminary and live in a parish and learn what real parish life is like. By the way, that’s when I also learned to enjoy martinis, so it’s wasn’t a total loss.

Nonetheless, I discovered that life can often be complicated and confusing and we must make decisions that do not have clearcut answers. I learned that the truth is often gray, somewhere between black and white, somewhere between conservative and liberal. I needed to learn like Dc. Christopher how to preach like kicking a field goal down the middle and split the uprights.

Three hundred years before Christ the Greek philosopher Aristotle taught the maxim, “in medio stat virtus,” meaning, “virtue stands in the middle” between the two extreme positions. Aristotle would have been a great place kicker for the Razorbacks. As you come forward for Holy Communion – or to receive a blessing – today, ask Jesus to give you the grace to fulfill your first task of preaching “Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” And to stop preaching your own brand of Catholicism. And then you, too, will have learned to split the uprights.

Praised be Jesus Christ!