Blaming the Messenger

Gospel: Matthew 11: 16-19

People in Jesus' time are no different from us today or in any other time.  Rather than addressing the message someone brings, they will instead attack the messenger.  John the Baptist was labeled a wild lunatic; Jesus was tagged as a permissive libertine.  But both proclaimed a message of repentance and turning away from sin.  This is what people did not want to hear or address, so it was - and is - easier to attack the messenger than address the message.  

We do not mind hearing about repentance as long as it is in regard to someone else.  All of us in our own minds have the gift of infallibility, the idea that we were immaculately conceived.  We see no sin in ourselves, but we manage to find an infinite amount in other people.  So each one of us listens to this message of repentance, applies it to others but not themselves, and goes about life changing nothing.  Is it any wonder nothing changes or even gets worse!  

Advent is upon us.  The message is the same and so is its reception.  We hear it, think it applies to others, and move on.  A war rages in the Middle East, just like every year.  The poor are temporarily reprieved this time of year but otherwise neglected and spurned.  We look for political solutions of coercion because we will not repent, we will not show mercy to others, we will not love as we ought.  We will have Caesar as our king for we do not accept the burden of love of the Lord Jesus.