OMELIE / Omelie EN

07 dic 2025

07/12/2025 - 2nd Sunday T. A. - Year A

07/12/2025 - 2^nd Sunday of Advent - Year A

Reading 1 IS 11:1-10 Psalm 71 Reading 2 ROM 15:4-9 Gospel MT 3:1-12

The words of John the Baptist are highlighted and complemented by those of the prophet Isaiah, which we hear today in one of his most beautiful and hopeful passages. He announces the one who will live by the Spirit of the Lord and who will bring that Spirit to the earth so it may be enriched and renewed. We will look up to him to learn, to be advised, to have an example of life. His judgements are sure and stable, and therefore we will learn from him to weigh good and evil. His word is sure and gives security to those who keep it. When he is heard and obeyed, the dreams of all men will come true, dreams of peace, communion and sharing. The prophet says this by using very eloquent images: wild animals will no longer frighten anyone, they will get along with each other: the combinations of wolf and lamb, cow and bear, asp and infant, panther and kid will no longer be synonymous with danger and enmity, fear and death. When the one who is announced is with us, things will change. Now the violent, the bullies, the deceivers and the fraudsters cause suffering and force people to be vigilant, to doubt, to suspect, to cultivate anxiety and tension, but when he, the Lord, will come, then all these situations will change. Then, in hearts filled with enmity, there will be a desire for peace and an ability for agreement, and this will be an occasion of joy and consolation for all. The prophecy is true, and so we must prepare ourselves to welcome the arrival of the one who brings the Spirit of the Lord. John the Baptist begins this preparation. He dresses as a prophet and eats only the essential to attract people's attention. He goes into the desert to meet travellers so that his words and his strong calls may reach many places and many cities, even distant ones.His efforts, undertaken in obedience to God, are rewarded: large crowds come to welcome his message and try to achieve the conversion of the heart. This happens through the confession of sins: one cannot welcome God's messenger and continue to justify one's selfishness and disobedience. To those who come to him only out of curiosity, without the will to change their ways and without recognising their infidelity to the covenant with God, John cries out with confidence: “You brood of vipers”! Those who think they are fine, that they do not need God's messenger, that they can judge others by putting themselves in his place, are dangerous people, people to be wary of, because you cannot trust them, just as you cannot trust poisonous snakes. We will not look for these attitudes in others; we will take care not to harbour them in ourselves. We will try to learn from the Lord Jesus and to keep his feelings within us, which are benevolence, faithfulness, mercy, and praise to God. The apostle Paul exhorts us to do this in his letter to the Romans; he also exhorts us to treasure the Scriptures, which are given to us as a great gift from God. Through them we know him, through them we grow in wisdom and discernment, and we become steadfast in the faith, receiving consolation. Through the frequent reading of the Scriptures we feed our hope, without which all life loses its flavour, loses its desire, and the will weakens. Let us love the Scriptures, seeking them with perseverance!