In the fall of 1978 I had just transferred colleges from Southern Illinois University (SIU) to the University of Illinois (U of I…or is it Ewe of Eye). That previous summer I had made the decision to try to get into veterinary school, and the veterinary school in Illinois was at the University of Illinois. I had been a good student in high school and did well at SIU. I was not prepared for the increased degree of difficulty I would run up against at U of I. Physics 101 was kicking my butt and I was panicking. I had to get an A in this class or I could kiss vet school goodbye. I studied non-stop for that class, to the exclusion of all else…including God. I didn’t have time for church. I had to study!
Across the hall from my apartment was a fellow student named Andy. We got to be friends and one day Andy asked me about God. About Jesus. Well, of course I knew about Jesus. After all. I was Catholic! But he shared the Gospel with me in a way I had never heard before. He helped me to see Jesus as a person, not just God. And as a friend. Someone I could turn to when I needed him but also anytime I just wanted to talk. I can say I certainly had a God moment then. And it changed the course of my life.
Starting in 2012 Jim, a parishioner at my church, started asking me to go on a Cursillo weekend. I didn’t really know what Cursillo was (it is a short course in Christianity and a way to grow closer in your walk with Jesus) and told him I didn’t have time. Jim didn’t give up. About every time I saw him over the next two years, Jim made a pitch for Cursillo. Finally, in 2014, I gave in. Sort of like the dishonest judge in the Gospel that was being pestered by the widow and decided to give judgement in her favor to get her off his back. I signed up for a Cursillo weekend to get Jim off my back. And my life has not been the same since. I went from visiting the Lord once per week to walking with the Lord every day.
Andy and Jim had a lot in common with two people from our readings today. Elijah and John the Baptist (I will use JTB from here on in). Both these figures used their lives to show others to God. In Elijah’s case, he did battle with the prophets of Baal. There were 450 of them in the Northern Kingdom of Israel and only Elijah was left to represent the one true God. And he told the people to choose one or the other. God or Baal. And to make his point, he challenged Baal’s prophets to a fiery, spiritual contest where he called down flames from God to burn up the offering of the bull whereas the prophets of Baal accomplished bupkis (Yiddish for absolutely Nothing!!). The people were so impressed they slew all of Baal’s prophets. Which did not make the king’s wife, Jezebel, very happy. That is ANOTHER story.
JTB’s job, as we all know, was to prepare the way for the Messiah. To point to Jesus as the anointed one. To lead the Jews to God the Son. The Pharisees and the scribes wanted to know who he was. Was he the Christ? We know he said that he was not. There was one coming that would baptize with fire. And when the disciples wanted to know, after seeing Elijah (along with Moses) at the Transfiguration, wasn’t Elijah to come first before the Messiah? Jesus told them that Elijah had already come. Meaning JTB.
Elijah and JTB pointed others to God and to Christ. Andy and Jim did the same for me. Without each having the courage to speak the truth, and to be persistent with the truth, I likely would be still immature in my faith or maybe would have abandoned my faith all together. I believe it is these guideposts we come across throughout our lives that direct us in the proper direction. Point us to the narrow road. God puts these people in our lives to give us a push. A path to take. He cannot force us down that path. We must choose for ourselves. Do we walk along the wide, smooth road ahead of us. Or do we see a rocky road (why do I suddenly get the urge for ice cream here) and take it, knowing that the it is the narrow, rough road that leads to salvation.
Thank you Andy. Thank you Jim.
