Weekly HOMILY for December 10, 2006: Getting Out from Behind a Closed Door

2nd Sunday of Advent, Cycle C
Our Lady of Grace
December 10, 2006

Getting Out from Behind a Closed Door
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato


Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Back in the 1930’s and 1940’s in Germany, there was a famous Lutheran pastor and theologian named Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Bonhoeffer spoke out strongly against the atrocities of the Nazis. As a result, he was arrested, imprisoned and eventually executed.

Shortly before Christmas in 1943, he wrote a letter from his prison cell. In the letter, he says this.

“Life in a prison cell reminds me a great deal of Advent. One waits and hopes and putters around.

“but in the end, what we do is of little consequence. The door is shut, and it can only be opened from the outside.”


Justice with God

Bonhoeffer gives a wonderful insight into the human condition before the coming of Jesus.

In a sense, we human being were imprisoned in our own humanity. The door was shut and it could only be opened from the outside.

And that is precisely what Jesus did; he opened the door from the outside. Many of our Advent Scripture readings describe what Jesus was going to do in terms of justice.

They speak of Jesus as “The Lord of justice.” Here we are not talking about the kind of justice that a law court or the sheriff’s office can give.

Instead, the Scriptures are saying that the Savior will bring about a just or right relationship between God and humanity. Through this Savior, through Jesus, no longer are we frustrated in our search for meaning and purpose in life.

No longer are we unfulfilled in our desire for life, even life beyond death. Jesus has opened the door for us and forged a lasting communion between God and us.

He has fulfilled the deepest yearnings of the human heart. That is the justice, the just or right relationship that the Advent Scriptures foretell.


Justice on Earth

Now, there is also a second dimension to the justice of the Advent Season.

St. Peter, in today’s second reading, says: “We await new heavens and a new earth where the justice of God will reside.” The idea is that we need to do what we can to establish a just or right relationship between ourselves and all other persons on this earth.

Isaish in the first reading and John the Baptist in the Gospel use some images to describe this effort – filling in valleys and leveling mountains and making a straight road for our God and Savior. These images help to pinpoint the work of justice that we are to do.

For example, we are to fill in the valleys created by hunger and discrimination. Sharing food and other necessities with the needy and checking our attitudes or words of prejudice toward minorities – these efforts will help those in the valleys of life to rise to a more just and human standard.

Then, we are to level the mountains created by consumerism and waste. Trying to live more simply, giving away clothing that we have not used in the past year, recycling paper and glass and whatever we can, not wasting food and electricity and water – these are simple ways of lowering the mountains of waste and maybe allocating more to those who do not have the basics.

And finally, we are to straighten the roads that have been made crooked by misplaced values. Perhaps figuring out a way of putting more resources into our schools and the teachers who educate our children especially in a day when millions go to athletes and entertainers – I suggest this as one way of straightening out some of the winding and twisted roads of our society.


Conclusion

So, Jesus’ coming to this earth fulfilled our deepest dreams and brought us a just and right relationship with God.

We now need to extend among all peoples the justice that the Lord brought. That work of justice is our best way to prepare for the Lord’s Second Coming on earth.