OMELIE / Omelie EN

29 nov 2020

29/11/2020 – 1st Sunday of Advent - B 

29/11/2020 – 1^st Sunday of Advent - B 

Reading 1 IS 63, 16b-17.19b ; 64, 2b-7 * Psalm 79 * Reading 2 1COR 1,3-9 * Gospel MK 13,33-37

Today Jesus wants to tell everyone what He is saying to His disciples: He strongly recommends them to be watchful. Being watchful means being ready for the return of the master of the house who has been far away, so He is not around to check things. We know who the master of the house is, He who the servants have not been seeing for a long time, but we do not know when He decides to come back nor when He will arrive. However, we know He has a lot of faith in them, since he has left them all his possessions. His servants will continue to think of themselves as his servants and live for him: this is easy if they love him! It would be very difficult instead if they were serving him out of fear, or if they were to forget about him in order to live only for themselves. We want to listen to this warning of Jesus'.

I would imagine that you also were to ask yourself, like me, what Jesus means to tell us talking about the return of the master of the house. Many times the Christians have thought about the day of their death. Did they guess Jesus' intentions correctly? Maybe yes, or maybe only partially. Certainly He would like that we think of our death as the time for meeting Him, but also maybe He wants that we meet Him every day: if only we were able to recognise His presence, we would have a way to offer Him our loving services daily. In fact, He comes towards us to meet us many times in order to ask us to love and serve in many ways our brethren, people known to us and strangers, both by helping them or listening to them, offering them His teachings, consoling them or warning them or encouraging them to continue to be faithful to Him.

Saint Paul reminds the Corinthians the wait for the Lord who is coming, but also to recognise that this wait is an opportunity for them to put at each other’s disposal the “spiritual gift” they received by the Lord Himself. This love living among the members of the Christian community is a testimony given to Jesus Christ, a testimony that is even more helpful for being ready for meetings even more intense and final with the Lord.

The coming of Jesus is, for the men who love Him, a desire strong and unending. The people of Israel is the example for us, which with loud voice was saying the prayer suggested by the prophet Isaiah:  “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down”! If only the Lord would destroy everything that is preventing us from seeing and meeting Him! If only He would come closer to us! Here it is, He has listened to this prayer spoken every day in the temple of Jerusalem, He has listened to it and has come, has established among us His kingdom; He has given us His Spirit so our life would be all renewed and able to renew the face of the earth with love and forgiveness, with patience and meekness, with goodness and mercy. He has come, and has offered Himself up to free us from the sin and its consequences. But then He has entrusted us with His possessions, His word and the concrete signs of His love, His Body and Blood, and the new building based on a strong rock foundation: then He “leaves home”, and we cannot see Him anymore. This is why we too, always a sinful people, leaning in our laziness, busy to hide our sons, we too repeat the old prayer: “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down”!

When you will come, Jesus, and we will welcome You, You will renew us, You will fill us with joy, You will make us able to live the love without turning our attention back on ourselves, and our communion will be full, and your Church will be a wonderful testimony for you!