This column is adapted from Bishop Robert C. Morlino’s homily at St. Patrick Church, Sunday, Dec. 14.
On the Second Sunday of Advent, we heard about John the Baptist as “a voice crying out in the desert” and we hear it again in this past Sunday’s readings. And we heard, during that second week of Advent, about our Blessed Mother. We heard how this woman who was clothed with the sun, the model of the Church, was sent into the desert, where a place had been prepared for her; the desert meaning, briefly, tough times.
A poll of Americans came out this past Sunday morning saying that 2008, largely for reasons of the economy, has been the worst year within their memory. The poll, in our terms, says that, largely because of the economy, 2008 has been, for most Americans, a desert. Those poll results surprise no one.
I think I may have become a news junkie. Maybe it is an act of rebellion because I see so many people my age getting out of touch with things. It’s almost as if they are saying, “Stop the world; I want to get off!”