Level off the Mountains and Fill in the Valleys
Isaiah 40:4
First reading from Baruch
Arise, Jerusalem, stand on the heights and turn your eyes to the east. For God has commanded that every lofty mountain be leveled and every valley be filled, so that Israel may walk in safety under the glory of God.
The word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Alleluia, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke
Glory to you, Lord.
Thanks be to God
Alleluia, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke
Glory to you, Lord.
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, while he was in the desert. He went into all the country around the Jordan River. “Turn away from your sins and be baptized,” he preached, ”and God will forgive your sins.” John was the one whom the prophet Isaiah was referring to when he wrote,Someone is shouting in the desert:
“Get ready a road for the Lord to travel on!
Widen the pathway before Him!
Level off the mountains!
Fill up the valleys!
Straighten out the winding roads before Him!
Smooth out the ruts!
And then all mankind shall see salvation from God! [1]”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Introduction
Good imagery
Introduction
Good imagery
Every year on the Second Sunday of Advent (whether the gospel reading is from Cycle A,B or C) John the Baptist is described as one sent to level off the mountains, fill up the valleys, straighten out the winding road and smooth off the ruts in order to make the Lord’s coming easy.
The imagery suggests the preparation made for an official visit from royalty in the ancient world. Preceding a visit from a Pharaoh of Egypt, teams of workers were sent out to put the roads in shape. They straightened out the sharp curves and leveled off the hills. They filled in the potholes and cleared away the litter, so that the litter carrying the Pharaoh might move with dispatch.
When the church council which gave us the Nicene Creed was held in 360 A.D. near Istanbul Turkey, bishops from Ireland attended. How did they get from Ireland to Turkey? They walked! It took them almost a year to arrive because there weren’t any trains or planes in those days, nor were there any bulldozers to level off the mountains and fill up the valleys to make the going easy. Naturally the bishops stayed for eight or nine months, once they got there, conversing with other bishops and theologians from across the continent. We who today travel in fine automobiles over perfectly paved super-highways appreciate the imagery.
So does a Capuchin missionary appreciate it. Today’s gospel, he tells us, reminds him of his tour of duty in Nicaragua. He writes, “The people who awaited us missionaries to arrive at their little chapel would always clean the path a mile before their chapel. Then they would send a mounted delegation to meet us. With firecrackers, they would make my mule or horse run that last block. By then my rear-end was really very sore from the five or six hour trip, and I found it very hard to keep a serious smile on my face as the people reached up to grab my hand.”
The imagery suggests the preparation made for an official visit from royalty in the ancient world. Preceding a visit from a Pharaoh of Egypt, teams of workers were sent out to put the roads in shape. They straightened out the sharp curves and leveled off the hills. They filled in the potholes and cleared away the litter, so that the litter carrying the Pharaoh might move with dispatch.
When the church council which gave us the Nicene Creed was held in 360 A.D. near Istanbul Turkey, bishops from Ireland attended. How did they get from Ireland to Turkey? They walked! It took them almost a year to arrive because there weren’t any trains or planes in those days, nor were there any bulldozers to level off the mountains and fill up the valleys to make the going easy. Naturally the bishops stayed for eight or nine months, once they got there, conversing with other bishops and theologians from across the continent. We who today travel in fine automobiles over perfectly paved super-highways appreciate the imagery.
So does a Capuchin missionary appreciate it. Today’s gospel, he tells us, reminds him of his tour of duty in Nicaragua. He writes, “The people who awaited us missionaries to arrive at their little chapel would always clean the path a mile before their chapel. Then they would send a mounted delegation to meet us. With firecrackers, they would make my mule or horse run that last block. By then my rear-end was really very sore from the five or six hour trip, and I found it very hard to keep a serious smile on my face as the people reached up to grab my hand.”
Hurry up and come!
On December 17 the Novena of Christmas begins, and the church chants the first of its great Latin O Antiphons. All the antiphons are filled with a strong feeling of Advent impatience; the one for the 19th is steeped in it: O Radix Jesse! Veni ad liberandum nos! Iam noli tardare!” In paraphrased translation the antiphon cries out, “Oh Sprout from Jesse, come to set us free! For God’s sake, stop your delaying! Hurry up and come! What in the world is keeping you?”
There is, indeed, something that’s keeping Him. Years ago, a Milwaukee rabbi (who no doubt had indelible and personal thoughts of the Holocaust haunting him) wrote me,
If more people in the world were filled with love, compassion and tolerance, we can hasten the day of the Messiah’s coming.. I often kid my synagogue that I visualize the Messiah about to be sent down to the world by G-d, but looking at all the violence, hatred, inhumanity (especially in the name of religion), He beseeches God not to send Him down to earth!
The rabbi makes a startling point: we either delay the day of the Lord’s coming, or we level off the mountains and hasten it.
There is, indeed, something that’s keeping Him. Years ago, a Milwaukee rabbi (who no doubt had indelible and personal thoughts of the Holocaust haunting him) wrote me,
If more people in the world were filled with love, compassion and tolerance, we can hasten the day of the Messiah’s coming.. I often kid my synagogue that I visualize the Messiah about to be sent down to the world by G-d, but looking at all the violence, hatred, inhumanity (especially in the name of religion), He beseeches God not to send Him down to earth!
The rabbi makes a startling point: we either delay the day of the Lord’s coming, or we level off the mountains and hasten it.
A Samaritan who leveled off the mountains
One day a Jew was going from Jerusalem to Jericho and was waylaid by robbers who left him half-dead. Along came a Jewish priest and Levite who saw the poor man and passed him by. Finally along came a Samaritan, considered by Jews to be half-breeds and heretics. (Jn 4:20). He stopped to pour the oil of compassion into the man’s wounds. Then he hoisted him on his beast of burden and hurried him off to the nearest inn, where he provided for his care and cure. (Lk 10:25-37)
The Good Samaritan had leveled off the mountains and straightened out the winding roads, and had readied a smooth path for the Lord God to come to a poor wretch waylaid by robbers. When he was finally restored to health, the man immediately went to the temple to give thanks, for in the person of a despised Samaritan loving him (a wounded Jew) he had seen salvation from God.
The Good Samaritan had leveled off the mountains and straightened out the winding roads, and had readied a smooth path for the Lord God to come to a poor wretch waylaid by robbers. When he was finally restored to health, the man immediately went to the temple to give thanks, for in the person of a despised Samaritan loving him (a wounded Jew) he had seen salvation from God.
What’s more, when the Milwaukee rabbi’s reluctant Messiah (holed up in heaven) heard about the great compassion of the Samaritan towards a hurting Jew, he changed his mind and beseeched God to swiftly send him down to the good earth.
A Jew who leveled off the mountains
Aaron Feuerstein, a devout Jew, is CEO and owner of Malden Mills, a fabric factory in Methuen, Massachusetts. On the night of December 11, 1995 a boiler exploded and a devastating fire demolished a good part of his factory. The next morning he announced to all his 2400 employees that, with God's help, they would all get through that tragedy together. Then he gave them their pay checks plus a $275 Christmas bonus and a $20 food coupon. Three days later on the night of December 14 in the gym of the Catholic High School he made a startling announcement: "For the next 30 days, and it might be more, all our employees will be paid their full salaries. I think you already have been advised that your health insurance has been paid for the next 90 days. But over and above the money, the most important thing Malden Mills can do for our workers is to get you all back to work. By January 2 of 1996, we will restart operations, and within 90 days, God willing, we will be 100 percent operational.” There was a moment of stunned disbelief, and then the workers rose to their feet cheering and hugging each other and also weeping.
Feuerstein had leveled off the mountains and straightened out the winding roads, and had readied a smooth path for the Lord God to come to 2400 disheartened factory workers. In their CEO they had seen salvation from God.
Feuerstein had leveled off the mountains and straightened out the winding roads, and had readied a smooth path for the Lord God to come to 2400 disheartened factory workers. In their CEO they had seen salvation from God.
What’s more, when the Milwaukee rabbi’s reluctant Messiah (holed up in heaven because of man’s inhumanity to man) heard about Feuerstein’s great compassion towards his employees (a pleasant surprise in the corporate world) he changed his mind and beseeched God to swiftly send him down to the good earth.
A bartender who leveled off the mountains
Jerry Quinn owned a bar and restaurant in Boston. One day he read in the newspaper that Franklin Piedra, an Ecuadorian, 33 years old, was suffering from chronic kidney failure. His mother wanted to give him one of her kidneys, but the transplant would cost at least 100,000 dollars, and she had no health insurance. The Ecuadorian Consulate suggested that he go home and die. Quinn had a better idea. He had been saving his money for a major down-payment on a two-bedroom apartment in a suburban part of Boston with a river view and all. But now another thought kept popping up, and he couldn’t get rid of it.
He called the reporter at the New York Post who wrote the story. Quinn said he wanted to help. She asked, “How much do you want to donate?” He replied, “I’d like to do the whole thing.” “What,” she exclaimed, “the whole 100,000 dollars!” “I’m not a wealthy guy,” he replied, “but I am comfortably well-off. And I have this theory of life: you can use only one car, you can use only one kitchen, you can use only one bathroom, you can only eat so much. That’s my theory. So what more do we need?”
Piedra was restored to health by the donation of his mother’s kidney and the incredible gift of a bartender. Quinn had leveled off the mountains and straightened out the winding roads, and had readied a smooth path for the Lord God to come to Piedra waylaid by kidney failure. When the two finally met, Piedra hugged and kissed Quinn in whom he had seen salvation from God.
What’s more, when the Milwaukee rabbi’s reluctant Messiah (holed up in heaven because of man’s inhumanity to man) heard about Quinn’s great compassion towards Piedra beset with kidney failure, he changed his mind and beseeched God to swiftly send him down to the good earth.
What’s more, when the Milwaukee rabbi’s reluctant Messiah (holed up in heaven because of man’s inhumanity to man) heard about Quinn’s great compassion towards Piedra beset with kidney failure, he changed his mind and beseeched God to swiftly send him down to the good earth.
Conclusion
Heroes of Advent
The command for the Second Sunday of Advent is “Level off the mountains and fill in the valleys” to facilitate the Lord God’s coming. That’s what the Good Samaritan and the Jewish CEO and Irish bartender did. Together with John the Baptist they are heroes of Advent, and they invite us to be Advent heroes with them.
[1] Isaiah 40:3-5
[1] Isaiah 40:3-5
