OMELIE / Omelie EN

11 dic 2022

11/12/2022 – 3rd Sunday in Advent - year A

11/12/2022 – 3^rd Sunday in Advent - year A

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

Is significant for us the last word said by Jesus regarding the precursor, John, who has prepared His coming: “Among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he”. This praise He addresses to John is the greatest thing that can be said about a man: nobody is greater than him, not even the people who have received from men the title of “Great”! However, another level of greatness exists, which cannot be compared to the one we are used to deal with normally: it is the greatness established in the kingdom of heaven. What was Jesus thinking about?

They who are baptised are immersed in the divine life, are sprinkled in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. They who are baptised are immersed in the mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus Himself: this is a new greatness, unknown to men in this world, it is God’s greatness. John baptised using a baptism of penance to prepare for the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom where Jesus is the king. However, he could not have entered that kingdom, he could not have been baptised by Jesus’ disciples in order to take part in the mystery of His Easter, he could not even be fed by His Body and Blood. With those words Jesus did not mean to humiliate John, who is certainly now among the saints in the heavenly gathering, but He has meant to make us desire to be His disciples.

John was in prison because of his frankness in reminding everyone, even those with power, the Word of God. He knew he had announced the Messiah, but he could not see the signs he was expecting coming from Him. This is the true reason behind him sending the disciples to Jesus in order to make sure he was not mistaken.

Jesus’ answer is really beautiful. He is not saying yes or no, but He says: look with your own eyes and you will see, look at what I am doing and compare it with the signs announced by the prophets, and you yourself will be able to tell who I am. John knew the words and the prophecies of the prophets and he also knew that the Servant of God would have opened the eyes of the blind and the mouth of the mute, knew that in His days the crippled would have started running and the paralysed would have stood up. The prophets had mentioned these wonderful things, and now, behold, they are happening thanks to Jesus. It is not difficult to see His identity.

The Scriptures and the works that are matching them are the key to read the facts and the times. From this we can understand how much importance Jesus has given to the knowledge of the Scriptures. If only we had for them a greater love, the same love we have for God and His Son Jesus, we would have a better judgement and more precise outlook on what happens, and our service in the world would be more effective.

An example of judgement is given us by Saint John in his letter: God’s promises are still to come true, the Son of men is late to come. What are we supposed to do? Let us look at the prophets: they are “an example of hardship and patience”, so we keep alive and use our patience too. We can derive an example even from what is happening in nature: the farmer, from sowing to picking, is relying only on his patience for a long time. So we, who are sowing God’s word and filling our life with prayers, are patient, and in our patience we do not act before the Lord’s judgement, complaining about one another. We keep the joy and the happiness alive, because God’s promises will come true: “Make your hearts firm, because the coming of the Lord is at hand”.

John the Baptist’s efforts will be rewarded, his doubt is already dispelled: Jesus is the one who is to come, has come, will be coming: there is no need to wait anymore, nobody else has to come. We stick to Him to shape His kingdom and so change the world into a paradise.