OMELIE / Omelie EN

02 gen 2022

02/01/2022 - 2nd Sunday of Christmas - C

02/01/2022 - 2^nd Sunday of Christmas - C

Reading 1 SIR 24,1-4.8-12 * Psalm 147 * Reading 2 EPH 1,3-6.15-18 * Gospel JN 1,1-18

We have celebrated the coming of the Lord and Saviour “for us men and for our salvation”, as we say in the Creed. What is the meaning of and how does His presence among us continue? We would never finish answering this question. Already the book of Sirach, with poetic words, is telling us about the coming of wisdom among men, arrived exactly in Jerusalem, in the people of Israel. This presence gives light and glory to all the people, so it can become a blessing for all the peoples on earth, according to the promise made to Abraham. The same wisdom, Saint Paul continues, is given to those who believe in Christ Jesus. They have been blessed by God exactly with the coming of the Lord, to whom they have given their life. In this way they can enjoy one another, be a consolation to one another, live finally in peace, notwithstanding the continuous suffering coming from temptations and the persecution always possible.

The same image of wisdom is found in the words used by John at the beginning of his Gospel. He calls it “Word”: not word as a combination of syllables, but “Word” as secret of God’s heart which is revealed to whoever establish communion with Him. When God speaks, He shares all His wisdom, all His love with they who are listening, He gives them His life, He has them live in a true, new, eternal way, according to the characteristics of God’s life. See, this is the one we have welcomed as a Child born in Bethlehem at the time of the Emperor Augustus and the King Herod, called the Great. He is the “Word”, which was there “in the beginning”, and He is all focused and concentrated on God the Father. “In the beginning” means at the very foundation, something as a base, which inspires every act of the creative love of God. God has always acted according to His love, a love which He has shared, which has become His Word. The love given by God has been the inspiration for the creation of men: now that love has established itself in the concrete person of Jesus. We have all been thought of by God because we are the same way as Jesus once was: however, sin has tarnished us, so we struggle to find our true identity again. Jesus is still always with us to show us the path and the goal. The light of His face needs to shine on our face, otherwise our humanity will not be complete and will never feel satisfied.

John tells us about Him that He is the light and the life. Life and light are expression of the summary of all our desires. It is difficult to explain the two words, but it is not necessary to do so: they are so rich, that they speak for themselves. The Word of God is life and light: Jesus is life for us and is light for our journey. With Him we are rich in every goods, with Him we can see everything and everyone in a good light, full and new, we can see everything as gift of the Father’s love and everyone as people who we can cover with the love. However, notwithstanding this, Jesus is rejected. There are some who would like to quash the light, win over it and switch it off. This is why the believers in Jesus are fought against, because He has not been accepted.

John the Baptist has accepted Him and has referred to Him, and then those who, by listening to John, have lowered themselves and have recognised they need forgiveness, have also been able to accept Him. Whoever accepts Him reaches new heights: before Him, the law of Moses was giving wisdom to men, but the Law was a burden: living according to the law is making us see duties and committments everywhere and always. With Him instead we are guided by love, and love opens mind and heart to the truth of God and to enjoy and give His grace. Are two very different things living always nudged by the law or living pushed and attracted by love. It allows us to meet God, not as a stranger, but as the Father of our life.

After having welcomed Jesus in this world, where he will live with us sinners, we will start, as it was for the first time, recognising Him, meeting Him, letting ourselves being changed by the light which shines from His actions and His voice, with which He fills the roads and the houses. Every meeting with Him and His word will also be a gift of the Father’s mercy, the mercy which is enveloping us as a cloak to keep us warm and safe.