St. Maria Goretti

How many times this past year, have you “leaped” for joy? It probably doesn’t happen much. Guys, I think, especially have difficulty with “leaping” When I hear “leaped”, I think of that Christmas carol, “The Twelve Days of Christmas”, with the eleven lords a leaping. When I was growing up, my brothers and I used to make fun of the eleven lords a leaping. You know, you kinda picture these guys in tights, leaping in the air, doing ballet or something. And it’s not that there’s something wrong with that or even guys doing ballet. It’s just not a real masculine image. Real men might eat quiche. And real men might cry. And real might watch “Dr. Phil”. But real men don’t leap. Oh, guys might get excited when the Colts score a touchdown, or when they get a new truck, or when they win at poker. They might even jump up out of their seats. Just don’t call it “leaping”. I’m pretty sure that’s one of those “man laws”.

So we come to Mass this weekend on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, and what’s John the Baptist doing this week? He’s leaping in his mother Elizabeth’s womb. Did you hear that in our Gospel? First of all, this “leaping” is O.K. Even though John the Baptist is a guy, this is not a violation of “man law”. After all John is a baby inside his mother. Leaping for a fetus floating around inside his mother, is more like kicking off the side of a pool. You can’t blame young John. The baby John is just so full of joy at being in the presence of Mary and the Baby in her womb, that he can’t help but make a commotion. And how else is a baby in the womb going to make a commotion? It’s not like he could whistle! Already, in the womb, John is beginning his mission for God. This baby is announcing that God has entered the world. And nothing would ever be the same again. We don’t know, for all practical purposes John the Baptist could have been doing back flips inside his mother. They didn’t have ultrasounds back then. Elizabeth’s interpretation of what was going on inside her womb was that the baby was “leaping”. Remember, John was one tough little guy. What’s clear here is that John was excited. And so was Elizabeth, and Mary, and Joseph, and everybody connected to this story that we are going to celebrate for the next several days. These people were so filled excitement and expectation that they were all ready to do back flips!

As we enter into our final hours of preparations for Christmas, WHAT ARE YOU EXCITED ABOUT? What makes you want to leap for joy? What is it in your life makes you want to shout out in excitement? Is it sports? It is money? Is it your car, or your house, or your friends? Is it your spouse and your family? I’m serious here. We all need to know this about ourselves. What is it that makes YOU excited about your life? John the Baptist reminds us today, on Christmas Eve, that the One thing that ought to make all of us excited, is Jesus. Our God came down to us. God became man just like us. This is an amazing thing. More than a baby leaping in the womb, more than an old woman like Elizabeth getting pregnant, more than a virgin having a baby, what God is doing here is saving His people. What God is doing here is saving US! We should be excited. We should get up, and shout, and make some noise. God has done and is doing something really amazing here. Maybe we should all be doing some “leaping”.

What’s most clear is that we can just sit around on our behinds. It’s time to get up. It’s time to move. It’s time to get busy. We’ve got only a few hours until our celebration of Christmas. Now is NOT the time to sit around. What can you do with these last few hours of Advent? Who could you go see? Who could you help? What prayers could you pray? Who could you write? Who could you call on the telephone or send an E-mail to in these next few hours? We’ve a got only a few hours to do our whole fourth week of Advent. How are you going to spend it? You can lay around, or sit around, like a lot of babies do in the womb. Or you can “leap” like John the Baptist did. Jesus is so very near. Don’t just sit there. Let’s get excited. May we be filled with anticipation! Just like two thousand years ago, God is getting ready to do something really amazing this Christmas. Will you be ready? Will you let this Christ-child excite your life? Things really can be different this year - if you let it!

May God bless us as we make our final preparations for Jesus’ birthday, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…AMEN !!!

St. Maria Goretti… Pray for us !!!