Homily for December 10, 2006

By Fr. Stephen Jarrell

2nd Sunday of Advent

 

 

INTRODUCTION

A.     It is horrifying to even imagine what happened that afternoon last October.

  1. A deranged truck driver storms into the one-room schoolhouse in a Pennsylvania Amish community and shoots 10 school girls, killing 5 of them.
  2. Then he turned the gun on himself.

 

B.     But what was even more stunning was the response of the Amish.

  1. Parents of one of the murdered girls personally approached the widow of the shooter to offer their forgiveness.
  2. People from across the nation donated thousands of dollars to help the Amish families—they insisted on establishing a fund for the killer’s wife and 3 children, as well.
  3. And when the shooter was buried, half of the 75 mourners there were Amish.

 

C.     What happened at that school affected the Amish deeply.

  1. They love their children as much as we love our children.
  2. They were devastated and hurt by their loss.
  3. But they chose not to hate but to forgive—not to be alienated from the killer and his family, but to be reconciled.

 

 

ADVENT RECONCILIATION

A.     John the Baptist always makes his appearance on the 2nd Sunday of Advent.

  1. He is no mealy-mouth, pablum prophet.
  2. He gets right to the point (Lk. 3), “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth.”
  3. How do we prepare a roadway for the Lord and each other?
  4. John would say—by being honest with ourselves, by changing our hearts and converting, and by forgiving past hurts.
  5. The Amish have a lot to teach us here.
  6. Through this “leveling” process, reconciliation with God and others is possible.

 

B.     In addition to the Amish, we have heard other stories about reconciliation recently.

  1. Pope Benedict XVI’s efforts to reach out to the Orthodox Christians and Muslims.
  2. And the President of Israel now says he would recognize a State of Palestine!

 

C.     Advent calls us to reconciliation.

  1. Do we have a mountain of pride or selfishness that needs to be made low?
  2. Do we have a valley of a strained relationship that needs to be filled in?
  3. Are there winding ways of distractions and addictions that need to be made straight?
  4. Do the rough ways of bickering or fault-finding need to be made smooth?
  5. Advent calls us to this “leveling” process so that we may more fully welcome Christ and his presence in each other!
  6. We have the opportunity to celebrate this truth in the Sacrament of Reconciliation this Tuesday.

 

 

CONCLUSION

A.     In our first reading (Bar. 5), the prophet Baruch holds out a vision of a great procession of people (who have been in exile) traveling toward Jerusalem.

  1. They have been dispersed because of their own sins and infidelities.
  2. But God is reassembling them and affording them a new beginning.

 

B.     The story continues—Advent is out time to be “reassembled” and reconciled by God…to come home.