Entry 0314: Reflections on the Second Sunday of Advent
by Pope Benedict XVI
On eight occasions during his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI delivered reflections on the Second Sunday of Advent, on 4 December 2005, 10 December
2006, 9 December 2007, 7 December 2008, 6 December 2009, 5 December 2010, 4
December 2011, and 9 December 2012. Here
are the texts of eight brief reflections prior to the recitation of the Angelus
and one homily delivered on these occasions.
Let us entrust our journey to encounter the Lord who
comes, to the motherly intercession of Mary, the Virgin of Advent, in order to
be ready to receive, in our heart and in our whole life, the Emmanuel,
God-with-us.
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
St
Peter’s Square, Second Sunday of Advent, 4 December 2005
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
In this season
of Advent, while the Ecclesial Community is preparing for and celebrating the
great mystery of the Incarnation, it is invited to rediscover and deepen its
own personal relationship with God. The Latin word “adventus” refers to
the coming of Christ and brings to the fore God’s movement towards humanity, to
which each is called to respond with openness, expectation, seeking and
attachment. And as God is sovereignly free in revealing and giving himself
because he is motivated solely by love, so the human person is also free in
giving his or her own, even dutiful, assent: God expects a response of
love.
In these days,
the liturgy presents to us as a perfect model of this response the Virgin Mary,
whom this 8 December we will contemplate in the mystery of the Immaculate
Conception.
The Virgin is
the One who continues to listen, always ready to do the Lord’s will; she is an
example for the believer who lives in search of God. The Second Vatican Council
dedicated an attentive reflection to this topic as well as to the
relationship between truth and freedom.
In particular,
the Council Fathers approved, precisely 40 years ago, a Declaration on the
question of religious liberty, that is, the right of persons and of communities
to seek the truth and to profess their faith freely. The first words that give
this document its title are “dignitatis humanae“: religious liberty
derives from the special dignity of the human person, who is the only one of
all the creatures on this earth who can establish a free and conscious
relationship with his or her Creator.
“It is in
accordance with their dignity that all men, because they are persons, that is,
beings endowed with reason and free will..., are both impelled by their nature
and bound by a moral obligation to seek the truth, especially religious truth”
(Dignitatis Humanae, no. 2).
Thus, the Second
Vatican Council reaffirms the traditional Catholic doctrine which holds that
men and women, as spiritual creatures, can know the truth and therefore have
the duty and the right to seek it (see ibid., no. 3).
Having laid
this foundation, the Council places a broad emphasis on religious liberty,
which must be guaranteed both to individuals and to communities with respect
for the legitimate demands of the public order. And after 40 years, this
conciliar teaching is still most timely.
Religious
liberty is indeed very far from being effectively guaranteed everywhere:
in certain cases it is denied for religious or ideological reasons; at other
times, although it may be recognizable on paper, it is hindered in effect by
political power or, more cunningly, by the cultural predomination of
agnosticism and relativism.
Let us pray that
all human beings may completely fulfil the religious vocation they bear
engraved in their being. May Mary help us to recognize in the face of the Child
of Bethlehem, conceived in her virginal womb, the divine Redeemer who came into
the world to reveal to us the authentic face of God.
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Saint
Peter’s Square, Second Sunday of Advent, 10 December 2006
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
This morning I
had the joy of dedicating a new parish church, which is named Our Lady Star of
Evangelization, in the North Torrino district
of Rome. It is an event which, although in itself concerns that district,
acquires a symbolic significance within the liturgical season of Advent, while
we prepare to celebrate the Lord’s Birth.
In these days
the liturgy constantly reminds us that “God comes” to visit his people, to
dwell in the midst of men and women and to form with them a communion of love
and life: a family.
John’s Gospel
expresses the mystery of the Incarnation in this way: “And the Word became
flesh and dwelt among us”; literally: “pitched his tent among us” (Jn 1: 14).
Does not perhaps the building of a church among the homes of a town or a city
district evoke this great gift and mystery?
The church
building is a concrete sign of the Church community, formed from the “living
stones” who are the believers, an image very dear to the Apostles. St Peter (see
I Pt 2: 4-5) and St Paul (see Eph 2: 20-22) emphasize how the “cornerstone” of
this spiritual temple is Christ and that, united to him and well compact, we
are also called to participate in the building of this living temple.
If God therefore
takes the initiative to come and dwell among men and it is always he who is the
principal author of this project, then it is true that he also does not want to
accomplish it without our active collaboration.
Thus, to prepare
oneself for Christmas means to be committed to building the “dwelling of God
with men”. No one is excluded; everyone can and must contribute in order to
make this house of communion more spacious and beautiful.
At the end of
time, it will be completed and it will be the “heavenly Jerusalem”: “Then I saw
a new heaven and a new earth”, one reads in the book of Revelation, “...I saw
the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared
as a bride adorned for her husband.... Behold, the dwelling of God is with men”
(Rv 21: 1-3).
Advent invites
us to cast a glance towards the “heavenly Jerusalem ”,
which is the goal of our earthly pilgrimage. At the same time, it exhorts us to
commit ourselves to prayer, conversion and good works, to welcome Jesus in our
life, to build together with him this spiritual edifice by which each one of us
- our families and our communities - is a precious stone.
Among all the
stones that form the heavenly Jerusalem ,
certainly the most resplendent and precious, because she is the closest of all
to Christ the cornerstone, is Mary Most Holy. Through her intercession, we pray
so that this Advent may be for the entire Church a time of spiritual
edification and therefore hasten the coming of God’s Kingdom.
PASTORAL VISIT TO OUR LADY
STAR OF EVANGELIZATION PARISH OF ROME
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Second Sunday of Advent, 10 December 2006
Dear
Brothers and Sisters of the
Parish
of Our Lady Star of Evangelization,
I am
pleased to be with you for the dedication of this beautiful new parish church:
the first that I have dedicated to the Lord since I took up office as Bishop of
Rome. The solemn liturgy for the dedication of a church is a moment of intense
and common spiritual joy for all God’s people who live in the area: I
wholeheartedly join in your joy today.
I greet
with affection the Cardinal Vicar of Rome ,
Camillo Ruini, Bishop Paolino Schiavon, Auxiliary Bishop of the Southern
Sector, and Auxiliary Bishop Ernesto Mandara, Secretary of the Roman Commission
for the Preservation of Faith and for the Provision of New Churches in Rome . I extend my deep
gratitude to them and to all who have contributed in various capacities to
making this new parish centre a reality.
This
church is being inaugurated during the Season of Advent, which the Diocese of
Rome for the past 16 years has dedicated to increasing awareness and collecting
funds in order to build new churches on the city’s outskirts. It comes in
addition to more than 50 parish complexes that have already been built in
recent years, thanks to the financial efforts of the Vicariate, the
contributions of numerous faithful and the attention of the civil Authorities.
I ask
all the faithful and citizens of good will to persevere generously in this task
so that neighbourhoods that are still without a church may have their parish
centre as soon as possible.
Especially
in our broadly secularized social context, the parish is a beacon that radiates
the light of the faith and thus responds to the deepest and truest desires of
the human heart, giving meaning and hope to the lives of individuals and
families.
I greet
your parish priest, the priests who work with him, the members of the Parish
Pastoral Council and the other lay people involved in the various pastoral
activities. I greet each one of you with affection. Your community is lively
and young!
It is
young because it was founded in 1989, and especially because of the effective
beginning of its activities. It is young because in this North
Torrino district the majority of families are young, so children
and young people abound.
Thus,
the laborious but fascinating task of educating children in the life and joy of
faith is incumbent on your community. I am confident that together, in a spirit
of sincere communion, you will be involved in preparation for the sacraments of
Christian initiation and will help your children, who from now on will find
here welcoming premises and adequate structures to grow in love and in fidelity
to the Lord.
Dear
brothers and sisters, we have dedicated a church - a building in which God and
man desire to meet: a house that unites us, in which we are attracted to God,
and being with God unites us with one another.
The
three Readings
of this solemn liturgy are intended to show us under very different aspects the
meaning of a sacred building as a house of God and a house of men and women.
We have
before us, in these three Readings that we have heard, three important
themes: the Word of God, which gathers people together, in the First
Reading; the city of God, which in the Second Reading appears at the same time
as a bride; and lastly, the profession of Jesus Christ as the Son of God Incarnate,
expressed first of all by Peter, who thus founded the living Church which is
manifest in the physical building of every church. Let us now listen more
attentively to what the three Readings
tell us.
First
of all, there is the account of the rebuilding of the People of Israel, of the
Holy City Jerusalem and of the temple subsequent to their return from the
Exile. After the great optimism of the homecoming, the people - on arrival -
found themselves facing a wasteland. How were they to rebuild it?
The
external rebuilding, so necessary, could not proceed unless the people were
first rebuilt as a people - unless a common criterion of justice was developed
that would unite them all and regulate the life and activity of each one.
The
people who had returned needed, so to speak, a “constitution”, a fundamental
law for their life. And they knew that this constitution, if it was to be just
and lasting, if it was to lead definitively to justice, could not be the result
of their own autonomous intention.
True
justice cannot be invented by man: rather, it has to be discovered. In
other words, it must come from God, who is justice. The Word of God, therefore,
rebuilds the city.
What
the Reading
tells us is a reminder of the Sinai event. It brings to life the event of
Sinai: the holy Word of God, which shows men and women the way of justice, is
solemnly read and explained. Thus, it becomes present as a force from within
which builds the country anew. This happens on New Year’s Day. God’s Word
ushers in a new year, it ushers in a period of history.
The
Word of God is always a renewing force which gives meaning and order to our
time. At the end of the Reading
is joy: people are invited to the solemn banquet; they are urged to make
a gift to those who have nothing and thereby to unite everyone in the joyful
communion that is based on the Word of God.
This Reading ends in these
beautiful words: the joy of the Lord is our strength. I believe that it is not
difficult to see that these words of the Old Testament are really true for us
today.
The
church building exists so that God’s Word may be listened to, explained and
understood by us; it exists so that God’s Word may be active among us as a
force that creates justice and love. It exists in particular so that in it the
celebration in which God wants humanity to participate may begin, not only at
the end of time but already today. It exists so that the knowledge of justice
and goodness may be awakened within us, and there is no other source for
knowing and strengthening this knowledge of justice and goodness other than the
Word of God. It exists so that we may learn to live the joy of the Lord who is
our strength.
Let us
pray to the Lord to gladden us with his Word; to gladden us with faith, so that
this joy may renew us and the world!
Thus,
may the reading of the Word of God, the renewal of the revelation of Sinai
after the Exile, serve then for communion with God and among men and women.
This communion is expressed in the rebuilding of the temple, the city and its
walls.
The
Word of God and the rebuilding of the city in the Book of Nehemiah are
closely connected: on the one hand, without the Word of God there is
neither city nor community; on the other, the Word of God does not remain only
a discourse but leads to constructing, it is a Word that builds.
The
following texts from the Book of Nehemiah on the construction of city walls
seem at first reading to be very practical and even prosaic in their details.
However, they constitute a truly spiritual and theological theme.
A
prophetic word of that age states that God himself built a wall of fire to
encircle Jerusalem
(see Zec 2: 8ff.). God himself is the city’s living defence, and not only
in that time but always. Thus, the Old Testament account introduces us into the
vision of the Apocalypse, which we heard as the Second Reading.
I would
like to stress two aspects of this vision. The city is the bride. It is not
merely a building of stone. All that is said about the city in grandiose images
refers to something alive: to the Church of living stones, where even now
the future city is being formed.
It
refers to the new people who, in the breaking of the bread, become one body
with Christ (see I Cor 10: 16ff.).
Just as
in their love man and woman become “one flesh”, so Christ and humanity gathered
in the Church become through Christ’s love “one spirit” (see I Cor 6: 17;
Eph 5: 29ff.). Paul calls Christ the new, the last Adam: definitive
man. And he calls him “a life-giving spirit” (I Cor 15: 45). With him, we
become one; with him, the Church becomes a life-giving spirit. The holy City,
where there is no longer a temple because it is inhabited by God, is the image
of this community that is formed from Christ.
The
other aspect that I wanted to mention are the 12 foundations of the city, above
which are the names of the Twelve Apostles. The foundations of the city are not
built of material stones but of living beings - they are the Apostles, with the
witness of their faith. The Apostles remain the pillars that support the new
city, the Church, through the ministry of Apostolic Succession: through
the Bishops.
The
candles we light on the walls of the church in the places where anointings will
take place are reminiscent precisely of the Apostles: their faith is the true
light that illumines the Church and at the same time, the foundation that
supports the Church. The Apostles’ faith is not something antiquated. Since it
is a truth, it is the foundation on which we stand, the light by which we see.
We come
to the Gospel. How often have we heard it! Peter’s profession of faith is the
steadfast foundation of the Church. With Peter, let us say to Jesus: “You are
Christ, the Son of the living God”. The Word of God is not only a word. In
Jesus Christ it is present in our midst as a Person.
This is
the deepest purpose of this sacred building’s existence: the church exists
so that in it we may encounter Christ, Son of the living God. God has a Face.
God has a Name. In Christ, God was made flesh and gave himself to us in the
mystery of the Most Holy Eucharist.
The
Word is flesh. It is given to us under the appearances of bread and thus truly
becomes the Bread on which we live. We live on Truth. This Truth is a
Person: he speaks to us and we speak to him. The Church is the place of
our encounter with the Son of the living God and thus becomes the place for the
encounter among ourselves. This is the joy that God gives us: that he
made himself one of us, that we can touch him and that he dwells among us. The
joy of God is our strength.
Thus,
the Gospel finally introduces us into the period in which we live today. It
leads us towards Mary, whom we honour as the Star of Evangelization.
At a
crucial time in history, Mary offered herself, her body and soul, to God as a
dwelling place. In her and from her the Son of God took flesh. Through her the
Word was made flesh (see Jn 1: 14).
Thus,
it is Mary who tells us what Advent is: going forth to meet the Lord who
comes to meet us; waiting for him, listening to him, looking at him.
Mary
tells us why church buildings exist: they exist so that room may be made
within us for the Word of God; so that within us and through us the Word may
also be made flesh today.
Thus,
we greet her as the Star of Evangelization: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray
for us so that we may live the Gospel. Help us not to hide the light of the
Gospel under the bushel of our meagre faith. Help us by virtue of the Gospel to
be the light of the world, so that men and women may see goodness and glorify
the Father who is in Heaven (see Mt 5: 14ff.). Amen!
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
St
Peter’s Square, Second Sunday of Advent, 9 December 2007
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
Yesterday, the
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the liturgy invited us to turn our gaze
to Mary, Mother of Jesus and our Mother, Star of Hope for every person. Today,
the Second Sunday of Advent, it presents to us the austere figure of the
Precursor, whom the Evangelist Matthew introduces as follows: “In those days
came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea :
“Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand’“ (Mt 3: 1-2). His mission was to
prepare and clear the way for the Lord, calling the people of Israel to
repent of their sins and to correct every injustice. John the Baptist, with
demanding words, announced the imminent judgement: “Every tree, therefore, that
does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Mt 3: 10).
Above all, John put people on guard against the hypocrisy of those who felt
safe merely because they belonged to the Chosen People: in God’s eyes, he said,
no one has reason to boast but must bear “fruit that befits repentance”.
While the Advent
journey continues, while we prepare to celebrate the Birth of Christ, John the
Baptist’s appeal for conversion rings out in our communities. It is a pressing
invitation to open our hearts to receive the Son of God, who comes among us to
make manifest the divine judgement. The Father, writes John the Evangelist,
judges no one but has given all judgement to the Son because he is the Son of
Man (see Jn 5: 22, 27). And it is today, in the present, that our future
destiny is being played out. It is our actual conduct in this life that decides
our eternal fate. At the end of our days on earth, at the moment of death, we
will be evaluated on the basis of our likeness - or lack of it - to the Child
who is about to be born in the poor grotto of Bethlehem, because he is the
criterion of the measure that God has given to humanity. The Heavenly Father,
who expressed his merciful love to us through the birth of his Only-Begotten
Son, calls us to follow in his footsteps, making our existence, as he did, a
gift of love. And the fruit of love is that fruit which “befits repentance”, to
which John the Baptist refers while he addresses cutting words to the Pharisees
and Sadduccees among the crowds who had come for Baptism.
Through the
Gospel, John the Baptist continues to speak down the centuries to every
generation. His clear, harsh words are particularly salutary for us, men and
women of our time, in which the way of living and perceiving Christmas
unfortunately all too often suffers the effects of a materialistic mindset. The
“voice” of the great prophet asks us to prepare the way of the Lord, who comes
in the external and internal wildernesses of today, thirsting for the living
water that is Christ. May the Virgin Mary guide us to true conversion of heart,
so that we may make the necessary choices to harmonize our mentalities with the
Gospel.
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
St
Peter’s Square, Second Sunday of Advent, 7 December 2008
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
For a week we
have been experiencing the liturgical Season of Advent: a season of openness to
the future of God, a time of preparation for holy Christmas when he, the Lord,
who is the absolute innovation, came to dwell among this fallen humanity to
renew it from within. A message full of hope resounds in the liturgy of Advent,
inviting us to raise our gaze to the ultimate horizon but at the same time to
recognize the signs of the God-with-us in the present. On this Second Sunday of
Advent the Word of God acquires the moving tones of the so-called “Second
Isaiah”, who announced to the Israelites, tried by decades of bitter exile in
Babylon, liberation at last: “Comfort, comfort my people”, the Prophet says in
God’s name. “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem ,
and cry to her that her warfare is ended” (Is 40: 1-2). This is what the Lord
wishes to do in Advent: to speak to the heart of his people and through it to
the whole of humanity, to proclaim salvation. Today too the Church raises her
voice: “Make straight in the desert a highway for our God” (Is 40: 3). For the
peoples worn out by poverty and hunger, for the hosts of refugees and for all
who are suffering grave and systematic violations of their rights, the Church
stations herself as a sentinel on the lofty mountain of faith and proclaims: “Behold
your God! Behold, the Lord God comes with might” (Is 40: 10).
This prophetic
announcement is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, who with his preaching and, later,
with his death and Resurrection, brought the ancient promises to fulfilment,
revealing an even deeper and more universal perspective. He inaugurated an
exodus that was no longer solely earthly, in history, hence temporary, but
rather radical and definitive: the transition from the kingdom of evil to the Kingdom of God
The first fruits
of this new humanity is Jesus, Son of God and Son of Mary. She, the Virgin
Mother, is the “way” that God prepared for himself in order to come into the
world. With all her humility, Mary walks at the head of the new Israel
in its exodus from all exile, from all oppression, from all moral and material
slavery, toward the “new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells”
(2 Pt 3: 13). Let us entrust to her maternal intercession the expectation of
peace and salvation of the people of our time.
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
St
Peter’s Square, Second Sunday of Advent, 6 December 2009
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
On this Second
Sunday of Advent the Liturgy presents to us the Gospel passage in which St
Luke, prepares the scene, so to speak, on which Jesus is about to enter and
begin his public ministry (see Lk 3: 1-6). The Evangelist focuses the spotlight
on to John the Baptist, who was the Precursor of the Messiah, and with great
precision outlines the space-time coordinates of his preaching. Luke writes “In
the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being
governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip
tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of
Abilene, in the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came
upon John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness” (Lk 3: 1-2). Two things
attract our attention. The first is the abundance of references to all the
political and religious authorities of Palestine
in A.D. 27-28. The Evangelist evidently wanted to warn those who read or hear
about it that the Gospel is not a legend but the account of a true story, that
Jesus of Nazareth is a historical figure who fits into that precise context.
The second noteworthy element is that after this ample historical introduction,
the subject becomes “the word of God”, presented as a power that comes down
from Heaven and settles upon John the Baptist.
Tomorrow will be
the liturgical Memorial of St Ambrose, the great Bishop of Milan. I take from
him a comment on this Gospel text: “The Son of God”, he writes, “before
gathering the Church together, acts first of all in his humble servant. Thus St
Luke rightly says that the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the
wilderness, because the Church was not born from people, but from the Word” (Espos.
on St Luke’s Gospel 2, 67). Here then is the meaning: the Word of God is
the subject that moves history, inspires the prophets, prepares the way for the
Lord and convokes the Church. Jesus himself is the divine Word who was made
flesh in Mary’s virginal womb: in him God was fully revealed, he told us, and
gave us his all, offering to us the precious gifts of his truth and mercy. St
Ambrose then continues in his commentary: “Thus the Word came down so that the
earth, which was previously a desert, might produce its fruit for us” (ibid.).
Dear friends,
the most beautiful flower that blossomed from the word of God is the Virgin
Mary. She is the first-fruit of the Church, God’s garden on this earth. However,
while Mary is Immaculate we shall celebrate her as such the day after tomorrow
the Church is continually in need of purification, because sin lays snares for
all her members. In the Church a conflict is always present between the desert
and the garden, between sin that renders the ground arid and grace that waters
it so that it may produce abundant fruits of holiness. Therefore let us pray to
the Mother of the Lord that she may help us, in this Season of Advent, to “rectify” our lives,
letting ourselves be guided by the word of God.
BENEDICT XVI
ANGELUS
St Peter’s Square, Second Sunday of Advent, 5 December 2010
Dear
Brothers and Sisters,
The
Gospel of this Second Sunday of Advent (Mt 3:1-12), presents to us the figure
of St John the Baptist, who, a famous prophecy of Isaiah says (see
40:3), withdrew to the desert of Judaea and, with his preaching, called the
people to convert so as to be ready for the coming of the Messiah, now at hand.
St
Gregory the Great commented that John the Baptist “preaches upright faith and
good works… so that the force of grace may penetrate, the light of the truth
shine out, the paths to God be straightened and honest thoughts be born in the
mind after hearing the word that guides us to goodness” (Hom. in Evangelia,
XX, 3, CCL 141, 155).
The
Precursor of Jesus, situated between the Old Covenant and the New, is like a
star that heralds the rising of the Sun, of Christ, the One, that is, upon whom
— according to another of Isaiah’s prophecies — “the Spirit of the Lord shall
rest... the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and
might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord” (Is 11:2).
In the
Season of Advent we too are called to listen to God’s voice, that cries out in
the desert of the world through the Sacred Scriptures, especially when they are
preached with the power of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, faith grows all the
stronger the more it allows itself to be illumined by the divine word, by “whatever”,
as the Apostle Paul reminds us, “was written in former days [and] written for
our instruction, that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the
Scriptures we might have hope” (Rom 15:4).
The
model of listening is the Virgin Mary: “As we contemplate in the Mother of God
a life totally shaped by the word, we realize that we too are called to enter
into the mystery of faith, whereby Christ comes to dwell in our lives. Every
Christian believer, St Ambrose reminds us, in some way interiorly conceives and
gives birth to the word of God” (Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Verbum
Domini, no. 28).
Dear
friends, “Our salvation rests on a coming”, as Romano Guardini wrote (La
santa notte. Dall’Avvento all’Epifania, Brescia 1994, p. 13). “The Saviour came from
God’s freedom…. Thus the decision of faith consists... in welcoming the One who
draws near” (ibid., p. 14).
“The
Redeemer”, he added, “comes to every human being: in his joy and his anguish,
in his clear knowledge, in his perplexities and temptations, in all that
constitutes his nature and his life” (ibid., p. 15).
Let us ask the Virgin Mary, in
whose womb the Son of the Most High dwelled and whom we shall be celebrating
next Wednesday, 8 December, on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, to
sustain us on this spiritual journey to welcome with faith and with love the
coming of the Saviour.
BENEDICT XVI
ANGELUS
Saint Peter’s Square, Sunday, 4 December 2011
Dear
Brothers and Sisters,
This
Sunday marks the second stage of the Season of Advent. This period of the
liturgical year brings into the limelight the two figures who played a
preeminent role in the preparation for the historic coming of the Lord Jesus:
the Virgin Mary and St John the Baptist. Today’s text from Mark’s Gospel
focuses on the latter. Indeed, it describes the personality and mission of the
Precursor of Christ (see Mk 1:2-8). Starting with his external appearance, John
is presented as a very ascetic figure: he was clothed in camel-skin and his
food was locusts and wild honey that he found in the Judaean desert (see Mk
1:6).
Jesus
himself once compared him to the people “in kings’ houses” who are “clothed in
soft raiment” (Mt 11:8). John the Baptist’s style must remind all Christians to
opt for a lifestyle of moderation, especially in preparation for the
celebration of the Christmas festivity, in which the Lord, as St Paul would
say, “though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his
poverty you might become rich” (2 Cor 8:9).
With
regard to John’s mission, it was an extraordinary appeal to conversion: his
baptism “is connected with an ardent call to a new way of thinking and acting,
but above all with the proclamation of God’s judgment” (Jesus of Nazareth,
I, p. 14; English translation, Doubleday, New York, 2007) and by the imminent
appearance of the Messiah, described as “he who is mightier than I”, who “will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mk 1:7, 8).
John’s
appeal therefore goes further and deeper than a lifestyle of moderation: it
calls for inner conversion, based on the individual’s recognition and
confession of his or her sin. While we are preparing for Christmas, it is
important that we reenter ourselves and make a sincere examination of our life.
Let us permit ourselves to be illuminated by a ray of light that shines from Bethlehem , the light of
the One who is “the Mightiest” who made himself lowly, “the Strongest” who made
himself weak.
All
four Evangelists describe John the Baptist’s preaching with reference to a
passage from the Prophet Isaiah: “A voice cries: ‘In the wilderness prepare the
way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God” (Is 40:3).
Mark also inserted a citation from another prophet, Malachi, who said: “Behold,
I send my messenger before your face, who shall prepare your way” (Mk 1:2; see
Mal 3:1).
These
references to Old Testament Scriptures “envisage a saving intervention of God,
who emerges from his hiddenness to judge and to save; it is for this God that
the door is to be opened and the way made ready” (Jesus of Nazareth, I,
op. cit., p. 15).
Let us
entrust to Mary, the Virgin of expectation, our journey towards the Lord who
comes, as we continue on our Advent itinerary in order to prepare our hearts
and our lives for the coming of the Emmanuel, God-with-us.
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Saint
Peter’s Square, Second Sunday of Advent, 9 December 2012
Dear
Brothers and Sisters,
In the Season of
Advent the liturgy highlights in a special way two figures who prepare for the
coming of the Messiah: the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist. Today St Luke
presents the latter to us and does so with characteristics that differ from
those of the other Evangelists. “All four Gospels place the figure of John the
Baptist at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and they reveal him as the one who
prepared the way for Jesus. St Luke presents the connection between the two
figures and their respective missions at an earlier stage.... Even in
conception and birth, Jesus and John are linked together” (Jesus of
Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives, p. 14).
This setting
helps us to realize that John, as the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth, both from
priestly families, is not only the last of the prophets but also represents the
entire priesthood of the Old Covenant and thus prepares people for the
spiritual worship of the New Covenant inaugurated by Jesus (see ibid.,
pp. 18-19). In addition, Luke discredits all the mythical interpretations that
are often made of the Gospels, by putting the Baptist’s life in its historical
context and by writing: “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar,
Pontius Pilate being governor... in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas”
(Lk 3:1-2). The great event, the birth of Christ, which his contemporaries did
not even notice, fits into this historical framework. For God the great figures
of history serve as a frame for the lowly!
John the Baptist
is described as “the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way for
the Lord, make his paths straight” (Lk 3:4). The voice proclaims the word, but
in this case the Word of God comes first, since the word of God came to John,
the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness (see Lk 3:2). He therefore plays an
important role but always in terms of Christ. St Augustine comments: “John is the voice,
but the Lord is the Word who was in the beginning (see Jn 1:1). John is the
voice that lasts for a time; from the beginning Christ is the Word who lives
for ever. Take away the word, the meaning, and what is the voice? Where there
is no understanding, there is only a meaningless sound. The voice without the
word strikes the ear but does not build up the heart” (In ev. Johannis
tractatus 293, 3: pl 38, 1328).
Today it is up
to us to listen to that voice so as to make room for Jesus, the Word who saves
us, and to welcome him into our hearts. Let us prepare ourselves in this Season
of Advent to see, with the eyes of faith in the humble Grotto of Bethlehem, God’s
salvation (see Lk 3:6). In the consumer society in which we are tempted to seek
joy in things, the Baptist teaches us to live in an essential manner, so that
Christmas may be lived not only as an external feast, but as the feast of the
Son of God who came to bring men and women peace, life and true joy.
© Copyright 2013 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Book by Orestes J. González