There is a story told of one of Verdi’s operas. The composer was young and this particular work had been produced in a hurry. Verdi knew that it was not his best. It was produced for the first time in Florence and at the end the enthusiastic yet undiscriminating audience went into quite unwarranted raptures and cheered the composer. The cheers echoed down the halls of the theatre. But Verdi paid little heed.
He had eyes for only one man. He looked to the box where this one man sat. All the plaudits of the crowd would not compensate for the lack of this man’s approval. The man was Rossini and he was not smiling.
Much is wrong with our society. We can all make a list; broken homes, the increase in violence and dishonesty, the lack of integrity in public life, the slow slide of the church into adopting the ways of the world, the decay of sexual morality. Who is willing to be the watchman who sounds the alarm? Who will call us back to God in repentance? It will not be a popular task.
This Advent we salute the forerunner who prepared the way by challenging the people’s sins. He was not after the popular vote. He had eyes only for God. Are we ready to share his work and mission?
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Adapted from Reginald Mallet, Sermon: “John The Baptist,” Dorset, England, September 1993.