In a small village there lived a holy man known for his wisdom and peace. One day a young woman in the village was found to be pregnant and the villagers quickly blamed the holy man, claiming that he was the father. They were irate and rushed to confront the holy man demanding an explanation.
The holy man, simply listened as they blasted him with their accusations, saying nothing to defend himself. As the villagers continued to spew their rage the holy man quietly admitted, “Yes, I understand. Things like this do happen.” They thought to themselves, “Ah ha!, now he’s coming clean!”
As time passed the truth came out. It turns out that the young woman had been involved with another villager and the holy man had nothing to do with it. When the villagers got word of this, they regretted their hasty judgment of the holy man. So, they sought out the holy man to apologize for their accusations. When they found him, they told him how badly they felt for the way they’d treated him.
They expected the holy to be angry. Either that or they expected him to chide them, shaming them for jumping to conclusions. But the holy man did neither. He simply smiled and said “It’s okay. I hold no grudges.”
The villagers went away that day struck by the holy man’s inner calm and compassion. You see the holy man lived by the age-old truth that to seek the approval of others is to live enslaved by the opinion of others. That’s why the opinions and judgments of others, good or bad, did not affect the holy man. What mattered was knowing his own worth as a beloved son of God and being true to himself.
To live authentically a life of integrity is to live neither carving the praise of others nor dreading the ridicule of others. That’s a freedom that comes from within. It’s the freedom that the holy man had taught the villagers that day.
One day another holy man came from out of the desert proclaiming, “Prepare the way of the Lord. Make straight his paths.” Like the holy man falsely accused so this wild man from the desert knew what mattered, knowing his own worth as a beloved son of of God and being true to himself.
To live authentically a life of integrity, it’s what we’re all called to do. It’s all we have to do. That’s how we prepare the way of the Lord and make straight his paths. We do it simply by living our lives humbly knowing our own worth as belove sons and daughter s of God and being true to ourselves. And the good news? No matter how unholy you may think you are, it’s ordinary people like I and I who can help make that happen.
That’s why we’re here at mass today, -to live authentically a life of integrity. When we do the peace that Christ’s coming promises can be peace we live, at Christmas and every day of the year.
