As a priest, I am sometimes asked to give someone a reference, usually for a job for which they are applying.  It is usually a character reference which is asked for – is this person, reliable, honest, punctual, and things like that.  One of the most useful words to use in a character reference occurs three times in today's first reading, from the prophet Baruch.

The book of Baruch was probably written in the first century BC by a Jewish scribe of that name.  It refers back to the deportation of the Jewish people to Babylon, almost 600 years before Jesus, but also celebrates the fact that they have now been freed, are free to worship in the Jerusalem temple, and can eagerly await, and expect, the coming of their Messiah – one who will bring about their eternal freedom, and who will establish the kingdom of God on earth.  But only if they obey God – and there, of course, is the rub!

What is that word, used three times in our reading?  It is the word integrity.  This is a really good word to use in a character reference, because it is a 'catch all word', and can mean many things.  In fact, last night I looked it up in the dictionary: it said integrity is honesty, soundness, wholeness.

Honesty, soundness, wholeness

“To whom it may concern: I have great pleasure in recommending this candidate for the post, and I know from personal experience that she is a person of great integrity.”

The prophet Baruch reminds the people in today's reading that God expects them to be people of great integrity – to be honest people, sound people, whole people – in other words, people of complete integrity.  Remember that prophets use metaphor and many other poetic devices to get their message across, as can be appreciated from this quote from the reading:

“Jerusalem, take off your dress of sorrow and distress, put on the beauty of the glory of God for ever, wrap the cloak of the integrity of God around you ... since God means to show your splendour to every nation under heaven, since the name God gives you for ever will be

Peace through integrity, and honour through devotedness

for God will guide Israel in joy by the light of his glory with his mercy and integrity for escort.”

Honesty, soundness, wholeness.  The word 'wholeness' is very similar to the word 'holy', and may well be derived from it.

Yesterday morning, I was privileged to hear Archbishop Vincent Nichols, together with the Archbishop of Canterbury, addressing a huge gathering in the Westminster Central Hall on the Christian response to the problem of climate change.  As you may have seen on the news, this was accompanied by other rallies and followed by a march of 50,000 people, called The Wave, which ended with the encirclement of Parliament.  This truly was a visible statement of the concern of thousands of ordinary people about the response of world leaders to global warming.  Many had travelled hundreds of miles to be there – I was actually sitting next to an elderly man who had travelled down from Liverpool the day before.  And we heard many heart rending stories from places such as Bangladesh and South Africa, of people whose lives and livelihoods had been ruined by changing climatic conditions.

Honesty, soundness, wholeness

Honesty

Are we, as a human community, really honest with ourselves about the possible effects of global warming for future generations, or do we just push this to the recesses of our minds, and just continue to selfishly exploit the earth's resources, and pollute the atmosphere?  What are we doing, as individuals, to lessen our carbon footprint?  You will be pleased to know that our parish Justice and Peace group are well aware of this, and we try, however imperfectly, to implement green policies in our church community here.

Soundness

The UN has now, just this week, announced that there is nothing wrong with the science.  The world is getting warmer and warmer, with possible catastrophic results for our grandchildren and great grandchildren.  The vast weight of scientific opinion is that these changes in climate are the result of human behaviour, and that something must be done.  And even if we believe that these changes are occurring through purely natural processes, them surely we would all agree that action has to be taken.  We are not in the business of blame, but of action.

Wholeness

Why should we, as Christians, be so concerned about all this?  The answer is found in the opening pages of the Bible, in the book of Genesis: God has given us this world, to tend it, to steward it, and look after it, to pass it on to future generations, to his praise and glory, not to ruin it.

I looked up the word for integrity in my Hebrew Bible, and the meaning given was: justice

It is the poorest people of the world who suffer from the changing climatic conditions.  The issues of climate change and justice for the poor are inextricably linked, and this is another reason why they should be at the top of our agenda as a parish, as a church, and as a nation.  It is simply not enough to come to Mass, and then forget about it.  Jesus says to us: “It is not those who call me Lord, Lord, who will inherit the kingdom, but those who do the will of my Father in heaven”.

In the gospel today, John the Baptist invites us to straighten out our lives, and our world, so that the Messiah may come.  Our personal lives, many of which need a great deal of straightening, are inextricably linked to the life of our planet, which also needs to be straightened from the distortions we cause.  We are all part of God's whole, and we are to be people of integrity, people who are honest, about ourselves and our world, people who are sound in judgement, people who long for God's justice to be made plain among all the peoples of the world.

It must begin in me – in you.  It will require change, courage, and absolute fidelity to God, who is always faithful when we respond to him.  At Christmas, it will mean consuming less, perhaps doing less, and perhaps being more – clearing the clutter from our lives, from our world, to allow the Messiah to come, to live in us, as he lived in the womb of our Blessed Lady, and as he lives today at the heart of creation.

We pause for a moment of silence, and then a meditation to guide us through this second week of Advent, that we may be people of complete integrity, so that all people might see the glory of God.

Bright star-maker God

travel with us

through Advent

shine into our

dark corners

lead us into

ways of justice

warm us

with joy and wonder

bring us

to new birth