To Be "Free and Whole and True"

(The following is a homily given to the Catholic Community of Enid on the 2nd Sunday in Advent, 12/06/15)

Reading 1 Bar 5:1-9 

Responsorial Psalm Ps 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6

Reading 2 Phil 1:4-6, 8-11

Gospel Lk 3:1-6

In the 14h century, the poet Dante Alighieri wrote his famous Divine Comedy, where he chronicled, in epic fashion, a tour of the afterlife.  Starting in the Infernal torments of hell, Dante slowly progresses to the very heights of Paradise, giving his listeners an artistic glimpse of the life of the world to come.

My favorite part of the Divine Comedy has always been the middle section, entitled “Purgatorio,” or purgatory.  This place – described as a mountain pushed out of the earth as a consequence of the fall of Satan from heaven, comes to be a stairway for the faithful, leading to the gates of paradise.

Dante describes Purgatory as having levels that help the individual soul come to grips with the consequences of sin in its past life, thereby giving the soul the power to lay down its attachment to the sin, and so prepare for sanctity in its completion.  Like Jerusalem in our first reading today, the soul swaps it earthly robe of misery for God’s glory (see first reading).  Wrapped in the cloak of God’s justice and mercy, it is lifted to “stand upon the heights,” free of the pain of sin, and cleansed of the grime of worldly desire, thereby making its judgment on all matters “free and whole and true.” (see Dante's Divine Comedy: Purgatorio, Canto 27, line 140)

In a very real way, Dante’s idea of this state of purification speaks to what this time of Advent ought to be for us.  As St. Paul tells us today, we must prepare for the Paradise of Christ Jesus by “increase[ing our] love more and more, in knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is [truly] of value, so that [we] may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.” (see second reading) 

Advent gives us hope, because it is grounded in the security of God’s glory (see first reading).  Therefore, In hope, we look forward to our own inner conversion, where the pearl of great price -- which is the love and mercy of God – is meant to reside.  In hope we ascend our own mountain of preparation and renewal, knowing that the LORD has done great things for us, filing us with joy. (see Resp. Ps.)  And in hope, we courageously prepare our lives to receive the redemption so freely given to us in the Person of Christ Jesus.

We often think that hope is passive.  That we simply sit around in expectation for something to happen.  But St. John the Baptist shows us in our Gospel reading today that this is not the case.  John’s life was that of hope and expectation, and we see these qualities through his ascetic life and passionate preaching of repentance and forgiveness. 

John’s willingness to be a voice “crying out in the desert” allowed God to use him to prepare His way, making straight God’s paths of justice and mercy so that the effects of sins could be wiped away, filling in the valleys of loneliness and humbling the mountains of shame (see Gospel)

This time of year asks us to follow in John the Baptist’s footsteps.  It prepares us to witness God’s redemption by calling us to hope.  Are we willing to do this?  Can we hope in God’s mercy and love for us?  Are we able to show our hope through our willingness to change through repentance and forgiveness?

We do not hope in vain, my brothers and sisters.  We hope in the Person of Christ the Lord who is willing and able to transform us from our sinfulness into his glory.  With confidence, may we abide in hope.  May we hope for the time when we are “free and whole and true.”