A
policeman who leveled off the
mountains
and filled up the valleys
and filled up the valleys
December 9, 2012, 2nd Sunday of Advent
First reading from Baruch
The word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Alleluia,
alleluia.
A reading
from the holy Gospel according to Luke
Glory
to you, Lord.
It was the fifteenth year of the rule
of Emperor Tiberius; Pontius Pilate was procurator of Judea, Herod
tetrarch[1] of Galilee, Philip his brother tetrarch of Ituraea and
Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, and Annas and Caiaphas were high
priests. It was at this time that the word of God came to John, son of
Zechariah, in the desert. So John went throughout the whole territory of the
Jordan River, telling the people to, “Turn away from your sins and be baptized,
and God will forgive your sins.” It was John 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 and fill up the valleys! Straighten
out the winding roads before Him and make the rough paths smooth for Him! And
then all mankind shall see salvation from God!” [2]
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord
Jesus Christ.
----------------
----------------
Introduction
2nd Sunday of Advent & 1st day of Hanukkah
Today, Dec. 9, the 2nd Sunday
of Advent, the Catholic community lights two candles on the Advent wreath. Today
the Jewish community lights the first candle on their eight-branch candelabra
(called menorah) to begin its celebration of the Feast of Hanukkah– the Feast
of Dedication. Hanukkah commemorates the eight-day purification and
re-dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem, after the Greek tyrant Antiochus
Epiphanes desecrated it in 161 B.C. Through the eight-days of celebration the
candles are lit one by one, and that gives Hanukkah its other name: The Feast
of Lights.
Advent figure par excellence
John the Baptist is the Advent figure par excellence. He is always
featured in the gospel reading for the 2nd Sunday of Advent, whether
the reading is from Matthew (Cycle A), Mark (Cycle B) or Luke (Cycle C). In
today’s gospel Luke writes that the prophet Isaiah was referring to John the
Baptist 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 and fill up the valleys!
Straighten out the winding roads and make the rough paths smooth for Him! And
then all mankind shall see salvation from God!”
Bad roads
in ancient times
Isaiah’s
words about “leveling off the mountains and filling up the valleys” allude to the bad roads
in ancient times and the need to repair them, especially in preparation for a
visit from royalty. In the days leading to an official visit from the Pharaoh
of Egypt, teams of workers were sent out to repair the roads and get them in good
shape. They straightened out sharp curves and leveled off hills. They filled in
potholes and cleared away litter, so that the litter carrying the Pharaoh might
move on with dispatch.
When
the Council of Nicea (which gave us the Nicene Creed) was held in 360 A.D. near
what is today Istanbul, Turkey, bishops from Ireland attended. It took them
almost a year to get there because there weren’t any cars, trains or planes in
those days; they walked (!) from Ireland to Turkey. What’s more, the roads were
always in terrible condition, and there weren’t any bulldozers to level off the
mountains and fill up the valleys. 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 enjoy the luxury of driving everywhere on
perfectly paved super-highways appreciate the imagery of today’s gospel.
God spoke his word
through a locust-eating desert man.
The litany
of names which Luke mentioned in today’s gospel gives us the historical
setting. What’s more important, it makes a powerful point: Luke’s litany of
names is all about power. It starts out identifying the secular superpowers of
the day: Emperor Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate (governor of Judea and
agent of the Emperor), and three tetrarchs (or co-emperors of the Roman Empire): Herod, Philip and Lysanias. Having named the big-wigs of
secular power, Luke then turns to the big-wigs of Jewish religious authority:
Annas and Caiaphas who hold the two highest positions in Judaism. The power
structure is complete.
God spoke his word
through a NYC cop.
He who spoke His word to us in
the person of a simple, God-fearing, locust-eating desert man spoke His word to us very recently on Nov. 14, in the person of NYC Officer Larry De
Primo, 25 years of age.
It went viral.
Deeply moved by what she saw Jennifer Foster captured
the incredible picture on her cell-phone. The picture of the homeless barefoot
man on a frigid night in Times Square, and De Primo giving him a pair of insulated
winter boots and thermal socks went viral; it generated
more than 417,000 `likes’! It was shared more than 138,000 times! It received
over 30,000 comments! And the statistics keep growing.
Referring
to the Nov. 14 event, the Skechers Store manager Jose Cano told the New York Times: "We were just kind of
shocked. Most of us are New Yorkers, and we just pass by that kind of thing, especially
in this neighborhood.” Store manager Cano
said that he gave Officer De Primo his own employee-discount, to bring the price
of the boots down to $75. De Primo told the New York Times that he keeps the
receipt for the boots in his bulletproof vest to remind him "that
sometimes people have it worse.”
The apple does fall far from the tree
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. De Primo credits
his parents for bringing him up right. He said, "They raised me extremely
well. A lot of what I am today is because of my upbringing." Then he added
that his mother cried when she learned of his act of generosity. His neighbors
in Holbrook have offered their own congratulations, and the Town of Islip is
drafting plans to issue its own commendation. As news of his good deed spread,
De Primo said he was expecting jokes from fellow policemen at the Sixth
Precinct station house. Instead they congratulated him. "It is a humbling
experience to have real heroes who have been on this job a lot longer than I
have shaking my hand," he said.
“May God bless all of them!”
There is, however, an important footnote to this story which went viral,
as it generated more than 417,000 `likes,’ shared more than 138,000 times, and
received over 30,000 comments. One man exclaims, “So what!” Then he added this very perceptive insight: “There are thousands
and thousands of people out there all across America in every big city
who rise to the very same level of compassion and
generosity as that of Officer De Primo, but for various reasons their
various stories go unnoticed and unsung.” Then he added: “May God bless all of them!”
Conclusion
An
appetizing story
The
2nd Sunday of Advent commands us to “level off the
mountains and fill in the valleys” in order to facilitate the Lord God’s coming.
By his unselfishness, his generosity, his sympathy with the sufferings of a
barefoot man on a very cold day in NYC, De Primo leveled off mountains and
filled in valleys, and facilitated the Lord God’s coming, not only for the poor
barefoot man who smiled from ear to ear, as though he had been given a million
dollars, but also for thousands of others for whom the story went
viral. And now it’s being featured every hour on the hour on
TV these Advent days, because the world hungers for such an appetizing story, especially
at Christmas.
The second candle lit
on the Advent
wreath
