3rd Sunday of Advent 17.12.06 Getting out of prison
In the Hail Holy Queen we describe ourselves as ‘mourning and weeping in this vale of tears’.
In Psalm 23 we mention that we are walking in a ‘valley of darkness (or death)’.
St Paul describes this earthly life as an exile… we are exiled from our true home at present and we long to throw off this earthly tent. (2 Co 5)
There are other references to the same import. (Hebrews 11,15 hoping to reach our true home) Our true home is in heaven (Ph 3,20)
These are strong images and when we take them together we seem to be getting a message. We notice already that this earthly life is not always a bowl of roses. Now from the above references we can conclude that it is not meant to be a bowl of roses.
In a valley of tears, a valley of death, a land of exile… one can expect to be unhappy, at least to a certain extent.
Today we traditionally express reasons for our joy. We have just established why we are not joyful! In what way can we be joyful in a valley of darkness?
a) because there is a better place
b) and we are coming out of the valley and going towards this better place
Our present condition is temporary; we will not always be suffering like we are now, and we are looking forward to a future of unalloyed bliss.
This perfect happiness will arrive when we leave this state of exile; when we arrive in the place where there is no sadness or darkness, where every tear will be wiped away, our true home.
We are like prisoners chalking off each day on the wall and longing to be set free.
Many people allow themselves to despair in this life. They see the misery around them and their own misery, and they conclude that this is all there is. Some even go as far as killing themselves because they see no other way to escape the misery.
We who have faith, also have hope. We see the misery too but we are not overwhelmed by it. Because we also see the place where misery is no more, and we see there is a way to get there.
Reflecting on the limitations of this life actually will help us to find true joy.
The important thing is not to try to find all our happiness here. It cannot be done, so we should not try.
Many do try to build up an earthly paradise and they do it through money and power and status – and they end up in the grave. The psalms tell us this and they were written 3000 years ago! We can be slow learners.
We pass through this life like flowers, like grass on the roof. We bloom for a day and we are gone.
This could be depressing, but it really is the key to great joy, because we don’t want to stay here, remember. This is a prison. We want to get out of here and get to the place where there is real and permanent happiness.
Naturally, in a prison we try to make things as comfortable as possible. We decorate the cell, we take some recreation. So we live in nice houses and we play sport etc. But this is only peripheral to the main desire to get to freedom.
Our joy is that we are getting out of here soon. We make the best of it while we are here but we do not cling to it, nor to each other, as we wish each other speedy and safe passage to this better place – our true home.
