by Paulist Fr. Rich Andre
December 9, 2019

Paulist Fr. Rich Andre preached this homily on the 2nd Sunday of Lent (Year A) on December 8, 2019 at St. Austin Parish in Austin, TX. The homily is based on the day’s readings: Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalm 72; Romans 15:4-9; and Matthew 3:1-12.

---

---

All the way back on November 1, there were a whopping 44 Christmas movies or specials playing on TV that day, including such non-classics as “A Bad Mom’s Christmas” (Showtime), “Christmas on the Bayou” (Lifetime), and “Romance at Reindeer Lodge” (Hallmark). ¹

It’s now more than five weeks later, and everyone is in the thick of the Christmas season. This is the main weekend for school and arts organizations to give Christmas concerts. Despite Fr. Chuck’s protestations, Fr. Larry and I decorated the rectory for Christmas yesterday. Even here at St. Austin, we’re having our annual Holiday Fair, promoting local and ethically-sourced Christmas gifts. 

Despite all of that, the Church is still pleading with us to wait a little longer, with hopeful anticipation. Have we prepared for God breaking into our world in new and exciting ways? Our readings today – especially in the words of John the Baptist – declare that God’s peace is partially accomplished through us doing the hard work of promoting justice. 

For the next hour, let’s try to enter back into the season of anticipation. Let us remember that we have been baptized into Christ’s mission to release captives and set prisoners free! 

---

Our first reading and psalm express the beauty we will experience when God’s reign fully arrives. “Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever,” proclaims Psalm 72. 

In the United States, there’s been a sense that we are starting to experience some hope from beginning to reform our criminal justice system. Rodney Reed was scheduled to be executed on November 20, despite substantial evidence throwing his guilt into question; the Court of Criminal Appeals has now halted his execution and ordered the new evidence to be considered in Bastrop. Roughly a year ago, in a rare moment of bipartisan cooperation, Congress passed an act that undoes some of the harsh sentencing laws that were implemented in the 1990s.

However, the Scriptures we’ve heard today make it clear: the breaking forth of God’s justice requires radical changes to our existing social systems. Did you catch that uncomfortable line in the Isaiah reading mentioned after the gifts of the Holy Spirit but before the wolf being the guest of the lamb? Isaiah says that God “shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.” John the Baptist, especially in Matthew’s telling, isn’t nearly as subtle: “You brood of vipers!” he declares. “Even now, the axe lies at the root of the trees!”

The fact of the matter is, we have a really long way to go in reforming our criminal justice system. This fall at St. Austin, nine people met to work through the “Just Matters” program on criminal justice reform, called “Church of Second Chances.” Frankly, the group found the sources provided to be woefully inadequate and outdated.  They spent a lot of time doing their own research.^{2 3} The main conclusions that the group reached were the following: 

• We’ve created a system that’s “out of sight, out of mind.” Prisons are often in rural areas, often the largest employers in the counties in which they operate. There is a huge incentive to keep prisons out of the public eye.
• Criminal justice policies vary from state to state, so it’s time-consuming for journalists to get the facts and it’s difficult for the public to have a dialogue. As I’ve learned in my ministry in jails, a change in prison personnel can radically change how prisoners are treated.
• Our criminal justice laws are more often based on “gut” feelings than on data. While there is LOTS of data that can help us determine best practices, our policies are often based on what sounds best in a soundbyte.

I could rattle off all kinds of statistics, but they can be numbing. The big question is: what is our criminal justice system for? Is it to allow God’s justice to flourish as promised in the season of Advent, or is it a system that emphasizes retribution over rehabilitation? Yes, we need to protect our society from those who wish us harm, and yes, there must be consequences to deter people from committing crimes, but we continually seem to make decisions that damage the lives of countless people who deserve second chances. Let me give you a few examples:

• I used to visit the Knox County Jail in Tennessee. Each prisoner was only allowed to participate in one activity a week. If they came to Catholic Mass, they could not participate in a literary program, drug addiction counseling, or a job skills workshop. 
• When someone is released from a Texas prison, their ID has the word “OFFENDER” written in huge letters, covering 1/3 of the card. They are on their own to get a new ID, which requires filling out paperwork and acquiring a birth certificate. It takes most states 8 weeks to deliver a birth certificate, which makes it difficult released prisoners to get a job.
• We must consider the consequences of long prison sentences for young adults, especially for non-violent crimes.⁴ Studies have shown that once people reach their mid-20s, they are far less likely to commit serious crimes.⁵
• Although extended solitary confinement can play havoc with a person’s mental capacity, prisoners suffering from mental health issues are often kept in solitary confinement.
• A recent report to the United Nations declared, “the [United States’] criminal justice system is effectively a system for keeping the poor in poverty while generating revenue.”⁶ For example, some jails have replaced free libraries with computers that charge prisoners for every use, including for each individual e-mail message they send. Such policies make it harder for prisoners to educate themselves or prepare for their upcoming legal hearings.⁷

At this point, you may be feeling that this homily lacks the joyful hope associated with Advent. Every year on the Second Sunday of Advent, however, the Church explicitly connects God’s justice to our personal actions. I can think of no better set of Sunday readings to challenge us to address unfair social systems. John the Baptist demands that we prepare the way of the Lord. Isaiah, Psalm 72, and St. Paul declare that God will bridge the seemingly unsurpassable distance between Gentiles and Jews. These same three scriptures explicitly link God’s justice to lifting up the poor. How will Isaiah’s dream be fulfilled if we do not carry out Christ’s mandate to reconcile the world? As we await the coming of Christ, we are called to be Christ’s body, to be his hands and his feet to those in need of the saving message of the gospel.

Most of us forget that caring for those in prison is one of the seven corporal works of mercy. If you’ve never ministered to those in prison, this Advent may be the perfect time to consider starting. E-mail Kristen Dempsey Pasyk on the St. Austin staff to let her know that you want to get involved with our Just Matters group. Volunteer for the Diocesan Restorative Justice Ministry. Follow Sister Helen Prejean on social media. Write letters to our representatives calling for specific reforms of our criminal justice system. Through actions like these, we become closer to Emmanuel, for whom we wait to ransom the captives. 

---

Footnotes