OMELIE / Omelie EN

08 dic 2019

08/12/2019 – Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

08/12/2019 – Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

 02^nd Sunday of Advent A

Reading 1 GN 3,9-15.20 * Psalm 97 * Reading 2 ROM 15,4-9 * Gospel LK 1,26-38

Today’s solemnity is a great gift. We enjoy the beauty and the purity of our blessed Mother, and at the same time we grow the desire to be pure on our turn to be able to give the world a taste of the beauty of Paradise.

The first Reading tells what happened after the first man's sin. And not only after the first one! God is looking for the man: “Where are you?”. What did God mean to tell Adam, who wanted to hide himself from His piercing eyes that are searching the darkness? “Where are you?” <Where do you have ended up being? Why are you hiding from my love? Are you hiding because you would like not to see what you have done: only I can delete it, I am here to mend the tear, I am here because I still like you, come out of hiding, so I can hug you again.> God’s question is the question of a mother who notices his son's suffering and would like to soothe him, remove it with her caresses and take it on herself. Adam instead insists in his pride, as we do. After the sin, pride makes us find excuses, nay, even try to convince ourselves, and convince God Himself, that our disobedience after all is reasonable and healthy, that it is the best we could have done.

What can God's love do? His humble and holy love does great deeds: He thinks of sending the Son, to let us see how our obedience should be, and to take from the Devil every right and claim over our life. God’s love is also patient, it needs to wait for the humanity to be ready to welcome such a wonderful work.

And then, towards the coming of age of the time, the Father’s desires become hidden events, great, but off the men’s radar. An angel addresses the Word to a girl in the most insignificant village of the region despised by those who are in charge. And this girl, not even herself knows it, has been prepared by God in an exceptional way: in her Adam's pride does not show itself, her fear of God does not make her influenced by the fears in the world. But even she has some difficulty to embrace God’s plans, she too makes use of her freedom in order to be a willing tool of God’s works. She too asks herself questions and asks for answers. However, she listens carefully to the divine messenger’s answers, She understands where they come from, and makes herself available: Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word. The angel can leave satisfied, and also impressed: he has found obedience, has found a heart docile and rich in faith, above all in love.

Today we look at Mary’s faithful answer. We learn her words by heart, because we want to make them ours. We want to offer God a pure heart, free from our selfishness, free from our passions, from the desires of our minds motivated by the pleasures of the body.

God shows us an immaculate Mother, free from the consequences of the selfishness which weights on anyone, to make us see the beauty of our life, if we obey Him with humility and in truthfulness.

God is proposing us to obey Him, because He wants us to be happy! When we obey Him we do not have to hide, we do not even dream about hiding from anyone, on the contrary, we want to meet everyone with a smile. The smile disappears from the face of whom carries in their heart disobedience to God and the pride which would like to consider Him inane and mean. When the smile is not on a brother's face, or even on our own face, let us check what is in the heart: we will find the pride to disobey in it.

Will we be able to eradicate it?

Let us look at our immaculate Mother, her pure heart, let us listen to her humble and ready answer, free from every desire to gain something for herself, and we will be freed and strengthened.

May today’s Eucharist with the songs and the prayers help us to progress on the path of our conversion. Mary herself will be present, with all the Saints who have venerated her, to pour on us her spirit of faithfulness, humility, truthful and generous charity!