OMELIE / Omelie EN

15 dic 2019

15/12/2019 - 03rd Sunday of Advent - Year A 

15/12/2019 - 03^rd Sunday of Advent - Year A 

Reading 1 IS 35,1-6.8.10 Psalm 145 Reading 2 JAS 5,7-10 Gospel MT 11,2-11

I remember, when I was little, once a month, Sunday morning the firefighters washing the streets of the village before Mass. He who was leaving all dressed up for the feast would also find in this way the street all clean, inviting. I was going to church more willingly, with extra joy to see those strong men, among whom my father, doing a job for which they were not getting paid, in order to make the journey towards the Eucharist inviting in the Lord’s days. The Eucharist is an important event, and therefore it deserves to be prepared with care: of course with regard to whom lives it, of whom feeds on it, of whom believes.

I was reminded of this while reading Isaiah, talking about a highway, called Holy Way, prepared for people who would have walked on it with joy and gladness, because they were back from the exile where there was plenty only of sorrow and mourning! They were coming back to the city of Zion, the city of the presence of the Lord. How much more we are preparing ourselves to meet with the Lord Himself, who is talking to us and offers Himself for us to be fed!

Jesus is the very one who came and is coming in order to alleviate all our needs, to console us in our sufferings, to free us from our burdens, to present us with the word that fills us with consolation. John the Baptist had a few doubts. He was suffering in prison, where he had been unjustly put away, recognised guilty of having made clear God’s will to one of the kings of this world. His sufferings and his human failure have given him doubts when he saw Jesus preaching mercy with tenderness and love for all the sinners: did I do something wrong? Did I make a mistake when I have introduced Jesus as the Messiah? How come that He does not free me from this prison? Maybe He is not the one I was waiting for, who we all are waiting for? Who could assure me of the fact that I was not wrong? So he sends to ask Jesus Himself. And Jesus wants to make witnesses of the messengers. They will not have to bring back someone else’s answer, even if it is truthful and enlightening, not even if this someone is Him, but they will need to be witnesses: they will tell what they have seen and heard. They have seen the signs anticipated by the prophets for the days of the Messiah, they have heard sweet and holy words, consoling words, words that make joy blossom because they are declaring blessed those who are poor and suffering like us.

He who gets closer to Jesus becomes a witness: they would maybe prefer to refer only what others are saying, but the encounter with Jesus is transforming! This is what happens to many curious people who go to famous places, like Lourdes or other sanctuaries, or gatherings where the Lord is present! John's disciples have become Jesus' witnesses.

 And Jesus is praising His precursor, notwithstanding his doubting. He reassures everyone that John is really a prophet of God, nay, the one who is preparing the way. With this praise of John, Jesus confirms also His own identity. He truly is the one who is expected to come!

Therefore, we are waiting for Him, and we are waiting in a loving state. We are awaiting Him with patience, because the sufferings always cause us to doubt, are keeping us suspended. Let us make ours the farmer’s patience, as Saint James is advising us.

He who has sown needs to wait patiently many months before being able to see the fruit and he needs to commit to the labor of the gathering, and in those months he is also patiently waiting for the rain, and afterwards the new season. The entire life is made of waiting, patient waiting. We are sure that the Lord is coming and that He is the judge of everything and everyone. We live behaving in a way to be acceptable and enjoyable to Him, winning over our inclinations and examining always everything in the light of His Word.

Waiting and the patience are keeping us awaken on the path where are travelling the Lord and those who have been saved by Him: with them we will rejoice when we will finally meet! The praise that Jesus will give us will be even more beautiful than the one He gave John: in fact, we are limbs of His Body! We, even if we are small in the Kingdom of heaven, have been washed by Him, are fed by Him and we will be made holy and divine by Him!

Thank you, Lord Jesus: may You come, we are waiting for You joyfully, in order to serve you!