Jerusalem And The Mystery of Grace – Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Advent – Sermon by Father Levine

Fr. Joseph Levine; Holy Family Catholic Church and Missions, Burns, Oregon; December 8, 2024

“Hail Mary, full of grace…” The mystery of grace, most fully embodied in the Blessed Virgin Mary, but shared with us poor sinners, is a great but hidden reality in this life. If but once we get the slightest glimpse of what it means to live in the grace of God, to share his life and nature as his true children, if once this truth not only enters our minds, but reaches our very bones, our lives will be changed. Advent is a time to give thanks for the reality received and to long for the promise of completion in the heavenly kingdom. Today’s readings can help us enter into the mystery of grace.

First, though, a preface about the forgotten four senses of Scripture.

The renowned monastic teacher of the 5^th century, John Cassian, taught about the four senses of Scripture (cf. CCC 116-117), applying them to the meaning of Jerusalem: “Jerusalem can be taken in four senses: historically (that is literally) as the city of the Jews; allegorically as the Church of Christ; anagogically  as the heavenly city of God ‘which is the mother of us all’; tropologically, as the soul of man.” (Conferences, Conference 14, ch. 8)

Blessed Isaac of Stella, a Cistercian Abbot of the 12^th century, a contemporary of the great Cistercian, St. Bernard, adds to this that words used by divine wisdom in a universal sense of the Church apply in a special sense to the Blessed Virgin Mary. (LOH Vol I., pg. 252)

This traditional teaching regarding the meaning of Scripture opens up for us the meaning of today’s 1^st reading.

Jerusalem, take off your robe of mourning and misery; put on the splendor of the glory of God forever.

We can consider the meaning precisely in light of the Blessed Virgin Mary, full of grace. The robe of mourning and misery is the state of sin, deprived of grace; the splendor of the glory of God, is the glory of God’s grace, hidden in this life, manifested in eternity. (cf. Rm 3:23, Eph 1:6)

The historical city of Jerusalem, before the coming of Christ, before the coming of grace, was in a state of mourning and misery, awaiting Christ’s coming. Nevertheless, during her times of earthly prosperity, as in the reigns of David and Solomon, she signified the life of grace, while during her times of exile and devastation, she signified the state of sin.

The Blessed Virgin Mary, then, is always clothed with the splendor of the glory of God and never wears the robe of mourning and misery, at least not on her own behalf. She does, however, stand at the foot of the Cross, mourning and interceding for sinners, laboring to bring them to birth to the life of grace.

As for the Church, we are taught that “embracing in her bosom sinners, at the same time holy and always in need of being purified, [she] always follows the way of penance and renewal.” (Lumen Gentium 8) The Church is holy in her head, Jesus Christ; holy in her teaching and in her sacraments, that communicate the life of grace; holy in her saints who reign with Christ in heaven. Yet, she embraces us sinners in her bosom, who please God have begun to share in the life of grace, but must still struggle against sin and temptation, while seeking to grow in virtue.

We tend to see ourselves in the Church, and so failing to perceive her holiness, we see rather a Church marred by sin. We might say, rather, that we are the ones who have clothed the holy Church with filthy garments, a robe of mourning and misery, rather than the fine linen of righteous deeds. (cf. Rev 19:8) Yet, when the Church upon earth reaches her destination and is transformed to become the heavenly city, the new and eternal Jerusalem, she will put off, once and for all the robe of mourning, and be clothed with the glory of God. (cf. Rev. 21:2,4,11)

Turning to ourselves: if we live in a state of mortal sin, we are wearing the robe of mourning and misery; if we live in a state of grace we have put on the splendor of the glory of God. At present, though, this reality is hidden from our eyes and known only by the light of faith. That is why St. Paul writes: You have died and your life is hid with Christ in God. (Col 3:3)

This hidden reality of grace is for us a cloak of justice that makes us pleasing in God’s eyes, it is a mitre through which we share in Christ’s priesthood, capable of partaking fully in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, offering our own lives through, with, and in Christ, and capable of a fruitful reception of holy communion. It displays the glory of the eternal name because it makes us holy, belonging to the holy God, sharing in his life and nature as his true children. (cf. Lev 19:2; 2 Pe 1:4; Jn 3:1)

When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Col 3:4) That is when the prophecy will be completely fulfilled and God will show all the earth your splendor: you will be named by God forever the peace of justice, the glory of God’s worship.

It is necessary, however, to get from here to there; from the hidden life of grace to the glory of the heavenly kingdom. We must pray that the one who began a good work in us (and in our brothers and sisters in Christ) will bring it to completion. For that St. Paul’s prayer must be fulfilled in us: our love must increase more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is of value, value that will make us pure and blameless before Christ.

There is an ancient dictum that a person sees and judges matters according to his character. A man bound by the chains of avarice values everything in terms of dollars and cents and thinks that everyone else does the same, thinks that everyone has his price. A man enslaved by lust is always on the lookout to fulfill his desires and thinks that everyone else has the same foul motivation as himself. Conversely, a kind man tends to expect kindness of others; an honest man expects honesty. While a liar expects others to lie, a man of great honesty has a hard time understanding why anyone would lie. Likewise, a man of great purity does not understand unchastity.

So also, if our love for Christ grows, we will become more like Christ and will begin more and more to see things through his eyes, as it were. That will give us the knowledge and perception of what is truly of value. We have heard the saying, “What would Jesus do?” Well, you can really only answer that question in the measure that your heart has been fashioned after the pattern of his Sacred Heart.

Really, a lot of what we need to do is remove the obstacles so that Jesus can work in us through his Holy Spirit. That is what it means to prepare the way for the Lord, to make his paths straight, to fill the valleys and lower the hills.

We could consider as obstacles the seven capital sins. These are the deep roots of sin within us, sinful tendencies that must be resisted or else they give rise to a whole multitude and variety of actual sins. There is the mountain of vainglory, the crooked ways of envy, the mountain of anger, the deep valley of sloth or laziness, especially in relation to God, the crooked ways of avarice, the mountain of lust, and the valley of gluttony.

We should seek in prayer to understand which of these tendencies is most deeply rooted in our life, so as to be most vigilant against that tendency and take proper measures against it. The vainglorious must learn to live in the presence of God, disregard the praise and compliments of others, and learn to take criticism; the person inclined to envy should learn to praise the good in others, giving thanks to God for the gifts he gives to men; the angry must practice patience, which means they must not insist on their own way and learn to suffer for love of God; the slothful must focus on acting promptly, especially when it comes to giving time to prayer, even when they don’t feel like it;  someone inclined to avarice must learn to trust in God’s providence and give generously, even though it hurts; the lustful must discipline themselves with fasting, keep guard over their eyes and their emotions and flee from the occasions of sin; the gluttonous must not be so particular with their food and learn to fast.

We must apply ourselves to removing the obstacles of sin in our lives, but we can scarcely succeed without God’s help; we need the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit against the seven capital sins: holy fear against vainglory, because there is nothing like the knowledge of God’s greatness to teach us humility; piety, which rejoices to belong to God’s family, against envy of our brothers and sisters in Christ; counsel, which takes thought for what is right and just, against anger; the energy of fortitude against sloth; knowledge of the fleeting character of this world against avarice; understanding, which gives deep insight into the reality of God and the mysteries of faith, against lust; and wisdom, which is the taste of divine goodness, against gluttony.

Without God’s help we can make no progress; with God’s help, the Holy Spirit will lead us to the light of glory and the vision of God’s face.