Homily: December 5, 2022, Monday of the Second Week of Advent

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“Those whom the LORD has ransomed will return and enter Zion singing, crowned with everlasting joy; They will meet with joy and gladness, sorrow and mourning will flee.” 

Every prophesy in the Bible has both an immediate fulfilment and an eschatological or apocalyptic fulfilment.

The immediate fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy in this first reading took place when the Israelites were released from their exile and returned to Zion, their promised land. Their years of sadness had found gladness. 

And the eschatological fulfilment of this same text will take place at the end of time when we who accepted salvation from the Lord, will enter the new Zion, and return to our heavenly home. Our life of restlessness will find true joy.

The Israelites were full of joy too, at the end of their exile. But it did not last long. They took for granted their freedom and began to sin against God, disobeying and rejecting His commandments.

We have all experienced joyful moments in life as well, finding the love of our life, the birth of our child, celebrations of achievements, and so on. Many events can give us momentary joy but none of these are forever.

What then can give us everlasting joy?

My family had a neighbour, an old lady who was innocent like a small child. She was simple minded and didn’t care too much about big issues. She was contented with simple joy and peace. At the last moments of her dying, people at her deathbed witnessed something beautiful. Just the moment before she died, she was seen stretching out her hands as if embracing someone and then she smiled so brightly. Her children said they had never seen her in such great joy before. Then slowly she lowered her hands, and she rested in total peace.

She must have been one who was ransomed by the Lord and crowned with everlasting joy. I would wish for the same on the day of my death. We all should.

I want to read to you what Fulton Sheen wrote about Finding True Happiness:

“Look at your heart! It tells the story of why you were made. It is not perfect in shape and contour, like a Valentine Heart. There seems to be a small piece missing out of the side of every human heart… when God made your human heart, He found it so good and so lovable that He kept a small sample of it in heaven. He sent the rest of it into this world to enjoy His gifts, and to use them as stepping stones back to Him, but to be ever mindful that you can never love anything in this world with your whole heart because you have not a whole heart with which to love. In order to love anyone with your whole heart, in order to be really peaceful, in order to be really wholehearted, you must go back again to God to recover the piece He has been keeping for you from all eternity.”

Look towards heaven, there is your everlasting joy.

Amen.

Fr. Nivin Scaria 


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