A woman in a Bible Study group told a story about how she had recently gone down into her basement and made an interesting discovery. Some potatoes had sprouted in the darkest corner of the room. At first, she didn’t understand how they could have gotten enough light to sprout. But then she noticed that she had hung large copper kettle from a rafter above the potatoes. She had kept the kettle so well-polished that it reflected the sun’s rays coming through the window onto the potatoes and enabled them to spr...
A woman in a Bible Study group told a story about how she had recently gone down into her basement and made an interesting discovery. Some potatoes had sprouted in the darkest corner of the room. At first, she didn’t understand how they could have gotten enough light to sprout. But then she noticed that she had hung large copper kettle from a rafter above the potatoes. She had kept the kettle so well-polished that it reflected the sun’s rays coming through the window onto the potatoes and enabled them to sprout.
As she reflected further upon this incident, she saw it as a metaphor for her role in spreading the message of Jesus to others. She was not a brilliant theologian or scripture scholar but she did pray, she did worship, she did seek to know God. And in the way she lived her life, she could see where she, like the copper kettle, could reflect the light of Christ’s love even to those who seemed to live in darkness.
This story of the copper kettle fits in well with our readings for today’s Mass. Isaiah the prophet says, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor.”
That same Spirit of the Lord God came upon the woman, and she felt the same call to bring the glad tidings of Jesus to those who did not see God in their lives.
Her story also fits in well with today’s second reading, where St. Paul tells us not to “quench the Spirit.” The woman didn’t seek to quench God’s spirit. Instead, she hoped to share the love of God with all those she met. She wanted her life to be a reflection of the life and love she received from God.
Finally, the story fits in well with today’s Gospel, which recalls for us the preaching of John the Baptist. John went into the desert in his youth to ponder the Word of God. He then came forth from the desert to preach God’s Word to the people, saying, “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, make straight the way of the Lord!”
The story of John the Baptist and the story of the woman with the copper kettle are both Advent stories. They are stories of individuals who found Christ by pondering the Word of God. They are stories of individuals who shared their discoveries with others so that they, too, could find Christ.
All of us here in this church today are called to do the same thing. The Spirit of the Lord is upon us, too. We, too, have been anointed to bring glad tidings to the poor and the downtrodden and to those who have chosen other paths and to those who live in darkness. Through our baptism and confirmation, we received the same calling they did and so, we too must proclaim God’s Word to others.
There are lots of ways that we can do this. We can do this in our homes to our relatives and our friends by the way we live and by sharing with them in prayer. We can proclaim Christ in the kinds of Christmas cards and greetings that we send to others; greetings that proclaim the birth of Christ. We can proclaim Christ to our friends and relatives who have fallen away from the faith by inviting them to join us at Mass on Christmas Day or even during the Advent season.
We’re invited to do all of these things and more. We have been invited to find Christ in our lives so that we can help others to find Christ as well. We’ve been invited to become a light in the darkness of our world just as the woman in our story and John the Baptist were. This is Christ’s own personal message and invitation to us in today’s readings. Now, it’s up to us to respond.
