God bless us and may the Virgin protect us!

 From today, 17 to 23 December, the "major Advent holidays", "privileged Advent holidays", begin, characterised by a distinctive element which are the "O antiphons" recited or sung during Vespers. They all begin with the invocation "O" followed by a messianic title taken from the prophecies of the Old Testament to express the expectation of the Saviour: Today the 17th proclaims "O Wisdom", on the 18th "O Adonai" and so on each day culminating on 23 December with "O Emmanuel". On these days the liturgy is more solemn with specific readings and prayers that orient the faithful towards the birth of Christ. Happy preparation for the Holy Christmas of. Christ!

For this period I have prepared the commentaries for the Fourth Sunday of Advent 22 December, for the Christmas Masses (night and day), for the Feast of the Holy Family Sunday 29 December, for the Feast of the Mother of God, 1 January, for the Epiphany, 6 January, and for the conclusion of Christmas time on the Sunday of the Baptism of Jesus 12 January. Today I send the commentaries for 22 December 2024 IV Sunday of Advent.

First Reading from the book of the prophet Micah 5, 1-4a

 *In certain moments it becomes difficult to hope 

The prophets in the Old Testament always have recourse to two types of language: that of rebukes and warnings for those who forget the Covenant with God and its demands, because with their own hands they prepare for ruin; that of support for those who remain faithful to the Covenant so that they do not lose heart in the face of adversity. The first reading today clearly recalls the language of encouragement, and one senses that the people are going through a critical period, almost on the verge of throwing in the towel because they have the impression that they have been abandoned by God.  He even goes so far as to say that all the promises of happiness renewed over the centuries were just fine words, since the ideal king foretold and promised was never born and perhaps never will be. It is unclear whether the author of this text is the prophet Micah because it is not clear exactly in which historical period we are in. If it is Micah, a peasant prophet like Amos and a disciple of Isaiah, we are in the 8th century B.C. in the region of Jerusalem, at a time when the Assyrian empire posed a great threat and the kings of Israel bore little resemblance to the Messiah-king they were expecting: it was therefore easy to fall into the temptation of feeling abandoned. For reasons of language, style and vocabulary, one is inclined to believe that this is a much later text and inserted later in the book of Micah. In this case, the discouragement is motivated by the fact that, after the Babylonian exile and uninterrupted foreign domination, the throne of Jerusalem no longer existed and therefore there was no descendant of David. The prophet takes up the promise that a king will be born from David's descendants who will be a shepherd, will reign with justice and will bring peace; a peace that will cover the whole of humanity in time: 'His origins are from ancient times, from the remotest days' and in space: 'They will dwell securely, for then he will be great to the ends of the earth'. This emphasis on universalism (v. 3) suggests that this preaching (included in the book of Micah) does not belong to the prophet Micah, but to one of his later disciples, since the universalism of God's plan and the strict monotheism that characterises it were only understood during the exile in Babylon. All the more reason to remember the promises concerning the Messiah, and the prophet (whether it is Micah or another does not change the meaning) encourages God's people by saying that even if you feel forsaken, you must be certain that God's project will be fulfilled; 'the day will surely come when she who is to give birth will come' because God is faithful to his promises. Speaking of 'she who is to give birth', he insisted that that moment was only a time of apparent abandonment in the course of human history. Furthermore, by proclaiming: 'And you, Bethlehem Ephratah, so small to be among the villages of Judah, out of you shall come forth the one who is to rule Israel', the prophet recalled that the promised Messiah - prophecy from Nathan to David (2Sam.7) - would be a true descendant of David, because in Bethlehem the prophet Samuel, on God's command, went to choose a king from among the eight sons of Jesse (1Sam.16). For Jews accustomed to the sacred scriptures, Bethlehem immediately evoked the promise of the Messiah, and the prophet joins Bethlehem with the term 'Ephratah' meaning 'fruitful', the name of one of the clans in the Bethlehem region.  Later the whole of Bethlehem is identified with Ephratah and even so the prophet is keen to bring out the contrast between the great and proud Jerusalem and the humble hamlet of Bethlehem, 'the smallest among the clans of Judah' because it is in littleness and frailty that the power of God is manifested, who chooses the small to realise great projects. This prophecy of Micah about the birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem was well known to the Jewish people, as is evident in the episode of the Magi visiting Jesus (Mt 2:6): the evangelist Matthew recounts that the scribes quoted Micah's passage to King Herod to direct them to Bethlehem.  At the time, Jesus' contemporaries knew that he was the Nazarene and it was inconceivable that a Galilean was the Messiah. The fourth evangelist also notes that when discussions began about the identity of Jesus, some said: 'Perhaps he is the Christ', but others replied: 'the Christ cannot come from Galilee, Micah said it clearly' (Jn 7:40-43). The short text of the first reading closes as follows: "He himself will be peace": shalom is the peace that only the Messiah can give to humanity

Responsorial psalm 79 (80) 2ac. 3bc, 15-16, 18-19

 *God takes care of his vineyard  

The mention of the cherubim, in Hebrew Kéroubim (Two cherubim towered over the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies in the Temple of Jerusalem), statues of winged animals with the head of a man and the body and legs of a lion, symbolise the throne of God.  "From thee nevermore shall we depart, make us live again and we shall call upon thy name": we are in a penitential celebration and "nevermore" constitutes a resolution: "From thee nevermore shall we depart" means that the people recognise their unfaithfulness and consider their evils as a consequence. The rest of the psalm will detail these misfortunes, but already here it says: "Awaken your power and come and save us", which indicates a deep need to be saved. In difficulties the people turn to their God who has never forsaken them and plead with him, invoking him with two titles: the shepherd of Israel and the vinedresser, images that evoke solicitude, constant attention, inspired by daily life in Palestine, where shepherds and vinedressers were central figures in economic life. The first metaphor is that of the Shepherd of Israel. In the court language of the countries of the ancient Middle East, the title of shepherd was attributed to kings; in the Bible, however, it is first and foremost attributed to God, and they called the kings of Israel 'shepherds of the people' only by proxy since the true shepherd of Israel is God. In Psalm 22/23 we read: "The Lord is my shepherd: I shall not want. In the book of Genesis, when Jacob blesses his son Joseph, he invokes "the God in whose presence my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, walked, the God who has been my shepherd from the time I existed until now" (Gen 48:15). And when he blesses his twelve sons, he does so "in the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel" (Gen 49:24). Isaiah also uses this image: "Behold your God!... Like a shepherd, he shepherds his flock, with his arm he gathers the lambs, he carries them on his breast, he gently leads the mother sheep" (Isaiah 40:9-11). And the people of Israel are God's flock as we read in Psalm 94/95: 'Yes, he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock he leads with his hand'. It is a psalm that is a meditation on the Exodus where Israel first experienced God's solicitude because, without him, they would not have survived. For God gathered his people as a shepherd gathers his flock, enabling them to overcome every obstacle. And today in the responsorial psalm when it says: 'You, shepherd of Israel, listen', it is to the fundamental experience of the Exodus and the liberation from Egypt that we refer.

In the second metaphor, the psalm calls God the vinedresser: "God of hosts return! Look down from heaven and see: visit this vineyard, protect what your right hand has planted'. The psalm is inspired by Isaiah's Song of the Vineyard: "I want to sing for my beloved the song of my beloved for his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill. He had spaded it, cleared it of stones, and planted fine vines in it. In the midst of it he had built a tower and he had also dug a vat' (Is 5:1-2). This is probably a popular song, which was sung at weddings as a symbol of the young bridegroom's care for his beloved, and this psalm takes up the image to describe God's solicitude as we read in verses (9-12) not taken up in the responsorial psalm: "You uprooted a vineyard from Egypt, you drove out the nations to plant it. You prepared the ground for it, you rooted it so that it filled the land. Its shadow covered the mountains, its branches the highest cedars; it extended its shoots as far as the sea and its buds as far as the River".  The Exodus, the entry into the Promised Land, the Covenant with God, the conquest of the land and the expansion under David's reign, in all these glories Israel recognises the work of God, of his continuous presence and care. The growth of Israel was so extraordinary that we can speak of an age of glory: "His shadow covered the mountains, his branches the highest cedars", thinking of David's conquests that extended the borders of the kingdom to unprecedented heights. 

The honeymoon did not last long because already in Isaiah the song recounted a happy love at the beginning, which ended badly because of the unfaithfulness of the beloved (cf. Is 5:2-4). And in the end, the vinedresser abandons his vineyard (cf. Is 5:5-6). In today's psalm we find the same adventure of a betrayed love: Israel is spoken of and its infidelities are idolatry with all kinds of transgressions of God's Law that bring consequences as one can well understand when reading the whole psalm.  I limit myself only to a few verses not found in the responsorial psalm. "Why have you cut down its hedge? Everyone who passes by plunders it; the boar of the forest devastates it, and the animals of the fields graze it' (Ps 80:13-14). And shortly afterwards:

"It is destroyed, set on fire" (v. 17). And again: "You have made us the mockery of our neighbours, our enemies laugh at us" (v. 7). In other words, we are in a period of foreign occupation and who the enemies are, the story does not say; they are, however, compared to the animals that ravage the vineyard - such as wild boars, considered unclean animals. Israel acknowledges the guilt for which it was punished by God and the psalm pleads for forgiveness, saying: 'How long wilt thou remain angry against the prayers of thy people? You have made us eat bread of tears, you have given us tears in abundance to drink' (v. 5-6). The psalm reflects the state of theology at the time when it was believed that everything, happiness as well as misfortune, was the work of God.  Certainly today, thanks to patient divine pedagogy, there has been progress in the understanding of revelation and we have understood that God respects human freedom and certainly does not control every detail of history. However, this psalm offers a magnificent lesson in faith and humility: the people recognise their infidelities and make a firm resolution never to repeat them again:

"From you never again shall we depart" and turns to God imploring the power of conversion:

"Let us live and we will call upon your name".

Second Reading from the Letter to the Hebrews 10, 5-10

 *Availability is worth more than all sacrifices

In these few lines, this expression occurs twice: "Behold, I come... to do your will, O God", taken from Psalm 39/40, a psalm of thanksgiving. A brief commentary on this psalm begins by describing the mortal danger from which Israel was delivered: "With patience I hoped in the Lord: he stooped over me, he heard my cry. He brought me out of the pit of death, out of the mud and mire; he established my feet on the rock, he made my steps sure'. After giving thanks for the deliverance from Egypt, he continues: "On my lips he has placed a new song, a praise to our God"; then: "You wanted neither sacrifice nor offering, but you gave me a body. You did not like either holocausts or sacrifices for sin. Then I said: 'Behold, I come, my God, to do your will'". The message is clear: the best way to give thanks is to offer God not sacrifices, but the willingness to do his will. The response that God expects is: 'Here I am', typical of God's great servants. Abraham, called by God at the time of Isaac's sacrifice, answered simply: 'Here I am' and his willingness is an example for the children of Israel (Gen 22): although Isaac was not immolated, willingness is worth more than all sacrifices. Moses answers 'Here I am' before the burning bush and his willingness transformed a simple shepherd even clumsy in speech into the great leader of Israel. Samuel, centuries later, in the time of the Judges, with his 'Here I am' became Israel's great prophet (1 Sam 3:1-9) who as an adult had the courage to say to King Saul: 'Does the Lord like holocausts and sacrifices as much as obedience to his word? No! Obedience is worth more than sacrifice, listening more than the fat of rams" (1 Sam 15:22).

In the Bible, the title 'servant' of God is the greatest compliment for a believer, just as in the first centuries of the Christian era, in Greek-speaking countries, it was common to give children the name 'Christodule' (Christodoulos), meaning servant of Christ. The insistence on availability becomes for everyone first of all encouraging because God only asks for our availability and all of us, despite our human limitations, can become useful for the Kingdom of God. At the same time, this insistence is demanding because if God calls us to serve Him, we cannot make excuses such as incompetence, ignorance, unworthiness, weariness, etc.

The author of the Letter to the Hebrews applies Psalm 39/40 to Jesus Christ, who says: "You wanted neither sacrifice nor offering, but a body you have prepared for me. Thou hast pleased neither burnt offerings nor sacrifices for sin. Then I said: 'Behold, I come to do, O God, your will.  Total availability that did not begin on the evening of Holy Thursday, but embraces the whole of life, day after day, from the very beginning because "entering the world, Christ says ... a body you have prepared for me ... behold, I am coming" (vv5-7). 

To say that willingness is worth more than all sacrifices does not mean that sacrifices are abolished, but they lose their value when they are not accompanied by total willingness to serve God and man. Moreover, in Israel, in the context of the struggle against idolatries, the prophets insisted on the 'sacrifice of the lips', a prayer and praise to be addressed exclusively to the God of Israel, since it happened that, while offering costly sacrifices in the temple of Jerusalem, some continued to turn to other gods. Offering to God the "sacrifice of the lips" indicates the decision to belong to Him unreservedly, and this, as we read in Hosea, was worth more than all animal sacrifices: "Instead of bulls, we will offer you as a sacrifice the words of our lips" (Hos 14:3). Psalm 49/50 also reiterates this: 'Offer to God as a sacrifice your praise and make your vows to the Most High... He who offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me' (Ps 49/50.14.23).

Jacob is regarded as an example of absolute availability to God, despite his wrongdoings, because his life bears witness to a profound inner transformation and an intense search for God. Jacob's journey represents the spiritual journey of every believer: from a life characterised by deceit and strife to a life of faith, of encounter with God and adherence to His plan. These are Jacob's misdeeds: from his youth, he commits several questionable actions: he deceives his brother Esau in order to obtain the birthright in exchange for a plate of lentils (Gen 25:29-34); he cheats his father Isaac in order to receive the blessing due to the first-born son, with the help of his mother Rebecca (Gen 27), he manipulates his uncle Laban to enrich himself during the time he works for him (Gen 30:25-43). This is his openness to God: despite these behaviours, Jacob is open to the encounter with God and shows an increasing readiness to allow himself to be transformed. His story is punctuated by episodes that show the change of his heart: the dream of Bethel (Gen 28:10-22): after deceiving his brother and fleeing, Jacob has a vision of a ladder connecting earth to heaven. In this dream, God renews to him the promises made to Abraham and Isaac. Here he promises: 'If God will be with me and protect me on this journey ... then the Lord will be my God' (Gen 28:20-21).

Then at Peniel (Gen 32:23-32) he wrestles all night with a mysterious man, who turns out to be God himself or one of his messengers and receives a new name, Israel, which means 'He who wrestles with God'. It is the symbol of a profound transformation: "I will not let you go unless you bless me!" (Gen 32:27). Here emerges his total willingness to depend on God, to recognise his need to be blessed and guided. Reconciliation with Esau follows (Gen 33) and this shows that inner change produces concrete fruits in human relationships. The thirst for God: what distinguishes Jacob is not his moral perfection, but his thirst for God: he always sought Him even when his actions were dictated by personal ambition and this constant search for God makes him an example of helpfulness because he appears to be a man who, despite his weaknesses and mistakes, always desired God's blessing and presence in his life. His story teaches that: God does not choose the perfect, but those who are willing to allow themselves to be transformed; our imperfections are not an obstacle to God's call, as long as we are willing to walk with Him; availability to God is more important than outward sacrifices or works, because God looks at the heart and the desire for conversion. In summary, Jacob is an example of absolute availability to God because, despite his misdeeds, he accepted the divine call, fought for God's blessing, and allowed himself to be transformed by that encounter, becoming one of the fundamental patriarchs of Israel's faith.Gospel according to Luke 1:39-45

*You are blessed among all women  

In Luke's gospel, after the two accounts of the Annunciation: to Zechariah for the birth of John the Baptist, and to Mary for the birth of Jesus, there follows the account of the "Visitation", which at first glance appears to be a simple family scene, but we must not be deceived: Luke writes a profoundly theological work, and to better understand it we must give due value to the central phrase: "Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she cried out with a loud voice" (Lk 1:41-42). It is therefore the Holy Spirit who speaks and announces from the very beginning the great news of the whole of Luke's Gospel: the one who has just been conceived is the 'Lord'. The Spirit inspires Elizabeth: 'Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb': this means that God acts in you and through you, God acts in your Son and through your Son. As always, the Holy Spirit is the one who enables us to discover, in our lives and in the lives of others, the signs of God's work. Luke is not unaware that this phrase from Elizabeth partly echoes one we find in the book of Judith (Jdt 13:18-19): when after beheading the general Holofernes, Judith returns from the enemy camp, she is greeted by Ozia who says to her: 'You are blessed among all women, and blessed is the Lord God'. Mary is here compared to Judith, a parallelism that suggests two things: the expression 'Blessed art thou among all women' makes it clear that Mary is the woman who guarantees mankind ultimate victory over evil. As for the conclusion of the sentence (for Judith 'blessed is the Lord God', while for Mary 'blessed is the fruit of thy womb'), it announces that the Lord himself is the fruit of her womb: this is why Luke's account is not just a picture of family joy, but something much deeper. In the face of Zechariah's muteness, who had become mute because he had doubted the angel's words announcing the birth of John the Baptist, the power of Elizabeth's word full of the Holy Spirit appears in full contrast. John the Baptist, still in his mother's womb, already full of the Holy Spirit manifests his joy: Elizabeth says that he "leapt for joy in my womb" when he heard Mary's voice. The angel had foretold this to Zechariah: 'Fear not, Zechariah, your prayer has been answered. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. You will be in joy and exultation, and many will rejoice at his birth ... he will be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb" (Lk 1:13-15).

We recall the words of Elizabeth: "To what do I owe that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" (Lk 1:43). This sentence also recalls an episode from the Old Testament, namely the arrival of the Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem (2 Sam 6:2-11). When David became king in Jerusalem and built a worthy palace, he decided to transfer the Ark of the Covenant to the new capital. Filled with fervour and awe, he organised a festive procession with all the best men of Israel, about thirty thousand, and with all the people he set out to bring up the Ark of God... They carried it in a new chariot... David and all the house of Israel danced before the Lord to the sound of harps, harps, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals (cf. 2 Sam 6:5). On the way, however, a man who had touched the Ark without being authorised to do so died immediately and, seized with fear, David exclaimed: "How can the Ark of the Lord come to me?" (2 Sam 6:9). He then decided to leave the Ark in the house of Obed-Edom, where it remained for three months and then, as word spread that the presence of the Ark brought blessing to that house, David decided to complete the journey and so David and all the house of Israel brought up the Ark of the Lord amidst songs of joy and to the sound of the horn (cf. 2 Sam 6:15) and full of joy, David also danced before the Ark "with all his might" (cf. 2 Sam 6:14).

Many details unite the account of the Visitation with the journey of the Ark of the Covenant: Both journeys, that of the Ark and that of Mary, take place in the same region, the hills of Judea; the Ark enters the house of Obed-Edom and brings blessing; Mary enters the house of Zechariah and Elizabeth and brings joy; the Ark stays three months in the house of Obed-Edom; Mary stays three months with Elizabeth; David dances before the Ark; John the Baptist "exults with joy" before Mary who carries the Lord in her. Since all this is not accidental, the evangelist invites us to contemplate Mary as the new Ark of the Covenant. The Ark was the place of God's Presence, and Mary carries within her, in a mysterious way, the divine Presence, and from that moment God dwells forever in our humanity: "The Word became flesh and came to dwell among us" (Jn 1:14).

Here is a contribution to enter next Sunday's Word of God. God bless us and may the Virgin protect us!

[15 December 2024] 3rd Advent Sunday 2024

*First Reading Zeph 3:14-18

Since the 8th century BC (with Hosea), the prophets understood and announced that God is love by developing the theme of the Covenant as a wedding between the Lord and his chosen people. When they return to speak of Israel's unfaithfulness, it is to denounce the constant risk of a return to idolatry, and they always recall the promise of the Messiah, which sounds like an announcement of hope. In the book of the prophet Zechariah we read: "Fear not, for I am in the midst of thee, saith the Lord" (2:15), and in Hosea: "Fear not...I am God and not a man; I am the Holy One in the midst of thee." (11,9). And a few centuries later, the angel Gabriel will say to Mary: "Rejoice, Mary... The Lord is with you" and the Virgin will give birth to Jesus, the Emmanuel, the God with us.  Today, the first reading brings us face to face with Zephaniah, who, about a century after Hosea, uses the two usual languages of the prophets: threats against those who do evil and encouragement for those who commit themselves to remain faithful to the Covenant: "The Lord will rejoice over you, he will renew you with his love, he will exult over you with shouts of joy" (Zeph 3:17-18). This sentence, which concludes today's first reading, is enough to understand that already in the Old Testament the prophets had announced that God is love. It is therefore not accurate to say that only in the New Testament is God who is love spoken of. The words of Zephaniah are not new even though it took several centuries of biblical revelation, that is, of divine pedagogy, to arrive at such an understanding. At the beginning of the Covenant between God and His people, the image of the wedding to indicate the Covenant would have been ambiguous, and for this reason, at first, it was essential to discover the God who was completely Other than the gods of the neighbouring nations and at the same time affirm the need to establish a Covenant with Him. It was Hosea (8th century B.C.) who first spoke of the Covenant between God and His people as a real bond of love, similar to that of betrothal, followed by later prophets: the First Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah, the Second and the Third Isaiah, who resort to the typical language of betrothal and marriage with affectionate names, mentioning wedding garments, bridal crowns, fidelity. The so-called Third Isaiah (6th century BC) went so far as to employ the term 'desire' (in the sense of loving desire) to describe God's feelings towards his people. Let us then think of the Song of Songs (between the 6th and 3rd centuries BC, although some parts are earlier), a long love dialogue composed of seven poems, where it is never clearly identified who the two lovers are.  Israel, however, interprets it as the dialogue between God and his people and proclaims it during the celebration of the Passover, the feast of the Covenant between God and Israel. If the people of Israel are likened to a bride, every unfaithfulness to the Covenant becomes not only a breach of contract, but outright adultery, and this is why the prophets resort to terms such as jealousy, ingratitude, betrayal and reconciliation: every unfaithfulness is a return to idolatry. It is in this context that Zephaniah (7th century BC) lived in Jerusalem during the reign of Josiah (in 640 BC) and his book is only five pages long, but dense and full of famous messages. He exhorts the king and the people to conversion (cf. 2.3), urgent under the reigns of Manasseh and Amon marked by idolatry, violence, fraud, lies, social injustice, arrogance of the powerful and oppression of the poor. Zephaniah denounces those who prostrate themselves before the Lord and then swear by their god, the idol Milkom often identified with Moloch (cf.1,5) and condemns religious syncretism; he also condemns those who fill the house of the Lord with fruits of violence and deception (cf.1,9). The two prophetic languages are very clear: threats against the wicked, as in the famous "Dies Irae" song taken from his texts, and encouragement for the humble faithful, as in the passage we read today. Zephaniah addresses Jerusalem 'daughter of Zion' with words of joy and hope: 'Rejoice, daughter of Zion... The Lord your God in your midst is a mighty Saviour'. Despite Israel's unfaithfulness, God's love perseveres towards his people.  Zephaniah invites them to conversion by announcing a new Jerusalem, a land of the humble and the faithful, where God will reside forever and thus anticipates the message that will be taken up by others (such as Joel and Zechariah). This message will be fully realised in the New Testament, when the angel says to Mary: "Rejoice, full of grace... The Lord is with you" (Lk 1:28) and in John's gospel: "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (Jn 1:14). The invitation to rejoice resounds throughout the liturgy of this Sunday, which is called 'Gaudete Sunday' (rejoice) because God became man and was born in Bethlehem: he makes it possible for us to share in his own life, which the sin of our forefathers had precluded and lost.

*Responsorial Psalm Isaiah 12:2-6

"My strength and my song is the Lord; he has been my salvation". This is the song that Isaiah foresees for the day when the people will be saved, but which we can already sing today in the midst of difficulties because it is precisely in weakness that we can experience the true source of our strength. St Paul wrote that the power of the Lord appears in fullness in our weakness (cf. 2 Cor 12:9). This canticle, although not part of the Psalter, may well be considered a true psalm because it is steeped in confidence and thanksgiving, at a decidedly dark time for Israel, which was under threat from the Assyrian empire as well as from the two neighbouring kings.  At that time, Isaiah sang words of hope announcing the not too distant end of Assyria and the liberation of Judah in a style that closely resembles Moses' song of thanksgiving after the liberation from Egypt and the crossing of the Red Sea (Ex 15). Like Moses then, Isaiah sings of his faith in a liberating God, who never abandons his people and is indeed constantly present in their midst. Like Moses, Isaiah understood that Israel's election was not an exclusive; it was rather a vocation, and to fulfil it the saved people had only one mission: to testify in the midst of men that God is indeed the only deliverer. This psalm of trust and thanksgiving to God, the saviour, Isaiah proclaims while the political context is dark and fear dominates throughout the region. We are in the 8th century BC, between about 740 and 730, when the Assyrian empire (capital Nineveh) was an emerging power with a seemingly unstoppable expansion. The Assyrians were the enemy and Nineveh, as we read in the book of Jonah, an ungodly city where wickedness of all kinds was carried out. After Solomon's death (930 B.C.), God's people split into two tiny kingdoms, which instead of allying as brothers chose different and sometimes even opposing policies. The northern kingdom (capital Samaria) tried to resist Assyrian pressure and allied with the king of Damascus to besiege Jerusalem in order to force King Achaz to join their coalition. Achaz then found himself between two fires: on the one hand, the two less powerful but very close neighbouring kings already at the gates of Jerusalem; on the other, Nineveh, which might end up crushing them all. Achaz preferred to surrender before fighting by becoming a vassal of Assyria: he bought his security at the price of freedom. This choice was humanly preferable, but do God's people have the right to reason according to human logic? The calculations came from fear, but can a believer afford to be afraid? Where has faith gone? Isaiah writes: "The heart of Achaz and the heart of his people were stirred, as the trees of the forest are stirred by the wind" (Is 7:2) and King Achaz, in the grip of doubts and fears, performs a terrible deed: he sacrifices his son to a pagan deity, ready by now to do anything to avoid losing the war.  He was a man of little faith and it is in this historical context that Isaiah encourages the little faithful remnant to hope: "You shall say on that day: I praise you, O Lord, for though you were angry with me, your cholera has subsided and you have comforted me" (12:1). He goes on to exhort calmness and not to be afraid (cf. 7:4) because if you do not believe, you will not endure (cf. 7:9) while, on the contrary, addressing men of little faith, he begins a long discourse of hope, which occupies chapters 7 to 11, the very ones that precede our song today. The triumphs of Assyria were, as expected, fleeting, and soon came the song of freedom. The prophet Isaiah composed this canticle, which today is the responsorial psalm, precisely to celebrate in advance the deliverance wrought by God, an authentic song of relief where, rather than the joy of being delivered, a true profession of faith emerges. Resuming the comparison with the canticle of Moses and the Israelites, Isaiah, five hundred years later, renews the same profession of faith to support his contemporaries so that they may understand that just as God once liberated Israel from Pharaoh, in the same way he will now liberate it from the Assyrian empire. I close by pointing out that Israel never reserves to itself the exclusivity of its covenant relationship with God: every time it gives thanks in the psalms for divine election, it brings out a note of universalism because throughout the centuries it has increasingly understood that its election is not an exclusive, but a vocation.  At the time of Isaiah, this was already clear and in today's text the note of universalism is perceived in the formula: "Proclaim among the peoples his works, make them remember that his name is sublime" (v.4). A clear message also for us: in order to respond to our vocation as men saved by God's merciful love, we have, as our only mission, the task of testifying, with song and life, that God is truly our salvation: "My strength and my song is the Lord". 

 * Second Reading from St Paul's Letter to the Philippians (4:4-7)

It is worth repeating that all the texts of this Sunday speak of joy and invite joy.

"Brothers, the Lord is near... , do not be anxious about anything, but in every circumstance make your requests known to God with prayers supplications and thanksgiving". In this text, which is the paragraph in the last chapter of the letter to the Macedonian community of Philippi, St Paul offers us some spiritual pointers to consider: 

1. It is characteristic of Jewish prayer to always combine supplication and thanksgiving. It joins: Blessed are you, Lord, who give us... and, we pray, grant us, this because whoever prays to God for his own good is certain to be heard and the fact of asking for something is already implicitly thanking him. Indeed, every human request reveals nothing new to God, but prepares us to receive the gift he gives us. Through prayer we open the door to God and immerse ourselves in his gift.

2. "The Lord is near": This expression, parallel to that of Zephaniah in the first reading, and analogous to what John the Baptist announces: "The kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Mt 3:2) evokes a central theme in St Paul and has at least two meanings: God is near because he loves us, and this awareness gradually grew in the Old Testament. Moreover, God is also near because the times are fulfilled, the Kingdom of God has begun, and we are living in the end times. In the first letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle writes that "The time has come short" ( 7:29-31), recalling the image of a sailing ship that, having reached the harbour, gathers the veils in preparation for landing. The message is clear: history is about to come to its fulfilment, and just as the passengers of the ship crowd around the edges to catch a glimpse of the land that is now near, so the Christian must direct his life towards the kingdom of God that is now near.

3. If the Lord is near, we have no reason to worry because our final abode is in heaven and from there we await the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour (cf. Phil 3:20).  Had not Jesus repeated: "Why do you fear, men of little faith?". And did he not recommend: "Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, nor about your body, what you will wear... Seek first the kingdom and the righteousness of God, and everything else will be given you besides" (Mt 6:25-34). When we seek the kingdom of God, we proclaim with our lives: 'Thy kingdom come, Lord' and we project our existence decisively towards Christ.  It is then, listening to St Paul, a matter of reviewing the priorities of life and checking what are the fundamental values that move it: Is the kingdom of God the true primary purpose of our existence? And if so, the only witness to offer is to live in the serenity of confident surrender: 'Let your lovingkindness be known to all men. The Lord is near'. No matter how serious the problems and enormous the obstacles, evil will be definitively defeated, and then: 'Do not distress yourselves over anything.  When we live like this, the loving-kindness/serenity of which St Paul speaks is transformed into joy: 'Brothers, always be glad in the Lord'.  

Today, the third Sunday of Advent, is therefore the Sunday of joy, and underlining this incessant invitation to be joyful are also the pink ornaments that the celebrant wears. The exhortation to joy is right from the beginning of the Mass, which opens like this: 'Gaudete - Rejoice', and it is more than an advice, a real command. And in this regard, how can we forget the words of Jesus: 'I have told you these things that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full' (Jn 15:11). Joy that does not eliminate difficulties, but makes us remain united with him in order to share even our difficulties with him; joy that does not come from events external to man, but from the presence of God in our hearts: it is Christian joy that has nothing to do with worldly pleasure and that conquers the world.

Gospel according to Luke 3:10-18

Dominating the figure in today's gospel is John the Baptist who, like the Old Testament prophets, called for the practice of justice, sharing and non-violence, themes dear to all prophets. Listening to him were the little ones, the crowd, the people, the disliked (such as the publicans and soldiers who probably accompanied them) and to them he announced in direct and severe language the conversion to welcome the coming of the Messiah. Indeed, the people, supposing him to be the Messiah they had long awaited, asked him what the conversion he preached consisted in. The answer was simple: true conversion is measured by our attitude towards our neighbour: practising justice, sharing our goods with others and practising non-violence.  Encouraged by his example, many approached him to receive baptism, convinced that he was the Messiah. His reply, however, was clear: I am not the Messiah. I proclaim to you, however, that he is coming who is stronger than I am, and, the evangelist Luke adds, with these and many other exhortations, he proclaimed the gospel to the people. There are thus two poles in this text of Luke: the first is the human expectation and hope expressed in the people's question three times: "What shall we do?" and the three times recall, according to some exegetes, the baptism ritual of the primitive communities. The second pole is the proclamation of Christ to the waiting people - it is not I but he is already among you - as John repeats. The first chapters of Luke's gospel are steeped in expectation: the elders Simeon and Anna in the Temple and here those who listen to the Baptist, and when Luke speaks of the gospel, he is referring to precisely this: the proclamation of the Messiah that the Baptist presents in two ways: He who baptises in the Holy Spirit and He who exercises the Judgement of God.  

1. He who baptises in the Holy Spirit. The prophet Joel foretold that, at the coming of the Messiah, God would pour out his Spirit on every human being (cf. Jer.ch.3/ch.2 in the Hebrew translations). Jesus did not therefore invent baptism because John already did it and that is why they called him the Baptist. Although immersion ceremonies were practised at Qumran, at the time of Jesus baptism was uncommon and very recent. In the Old Testament, the terms baptism and baptism are very rare; in fact, the rite of entry into the community was circumcision, not baptism, and baptism is never mentioned in the Torah. The Jewish religion provided for water rites, ablutions without ever envisaging total immersion in water, and they all had the purpose of purifying in the biblical sense: not to remove sin but to allow man to separate himself from all that is impure because it is part of the profane world, in order to enter into contact with the sacred, that is, with God.

With John the Baptist, an important and completely revolutionary step takes place: baptism takes on the new meaning of conversion and remission of sins. He himself then announces that with the arrival of Christ, baptism will be even more different: I baptise you with water, but he will baptise you in Holy Spirit and fire. The great novelty is not in the verb to baptise because John is baptising Jews in the Jordan, but in the phrase that follows "in Holy Spirit and fire" which must have had an extraordinary effect and that is why people flocked to John to be baptised. The expression Holy Spirit hardly existed at all in the Old Testament and the rare times that the adjective holy appeared indicated the spirit of the holy God and not the Holy Spirit, a distinct person of the Trinity. In the Old Testament, the urgency was to free the people from the risk of polytheism and to reveal the one God, so it might have been excessive to reveal at once the mystery of the one God in three persons. They spoke of the breath of God that gives life force to man and impels him to act according to the divine will, but they had not yet come to know him as the Holy Spirit person. John's words open the door to revelation when he announces a baptism in the Holy Spirit and no longer a baptism with water, marking a radical change. His baptism is a symbol of conversion and remission of sins and announces a different baptism: I baptise you with water... the Messiah who is already among you will baptise you in the Holy Spirit and fire where the Greek preposition 'kai' (in Italian and) does not indicate an addition, but an equivalence whereby the Baptist states that the Messiah will baptise in the Holy Spirit who is fire, that is, in the fire of the Holy Spirit. Luke always emphasises the difference between the baptism of John and that of Jesus: John baptised with water as a sign of conversion, while Christian baptism is an immersion in the Holy Spirit, the fire of God's love, a baptism that grafts believers into the paschal mystery of Christ, defeating sin and death. 

2. John presents the Messiah as the One who exercises the Judgement of God. In the Old Testament, the Messiah was expected as the king who would eliminate evil and make justice reign. In the songs of the Servant of God (in the Second Isaiah), the judgement that the Messiah would exercise with authority and with fire emerges. Here John takes up the sign of fire as a symbol of purification: 'He holds the shovel in his hand to clean his threshing floor and gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with an unquenchable fire'. This is an image that his listeners knew and that represented good news because this separation did not suppress anyone; this fire does not destroy but purifies. The fire of Judgement purifies without destroying anything: just as gold is purified and made shining through fire, so the fire of the Holy Spirit frees those who receive it from everything that does not conform to the Kingdom of justice and peace established by the Messiah. 

Some concluding reflections

*John invites sharing without ever judging others. We often help someone only after having asked ourselves if they deserve it, but this way of acting is still based on merit, not on the gratuitousness of love. 

*John confesses that he is not even worthy to untie the lace of Christ's sandals.  The rabbis recommended not imposing on a slave of Jewish origin such a menial and humiliating task as untying the master's sandals or washing his feet. 

* Many publicans, i.e. tax collectors who worked for the Roman Empire, were taxed by the Romans and often recovered more than they had paid in taxes. For this reason every official was regarded and feared as a publican.  

*The soldiers mentioned here were probably mercenaries in the service of the publicans and not Jewish or Roman soldiers. The Jews had no right to have an army and the Roman soldiers, who occupied Palestine, did not mix in the affairs of the people.

Holy Sunday!

+Giovanni D'Ercole 

God bless us and may the Virgin protect us!

Here is the commentary on the readings and biblical texts for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception [Sunday 8 December 2024].

*First Reading Genesis 3.9-15.20

The tree of life was planted by God in the centre of Eden and somewhere in the same garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that is, the tree of what makes us happy or unhappy. The delivery was simple: "You may eat of all the trees in the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you must not eat, for on the day that you eat of it you must surely die" Gen 2:16-17). God commands not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but it is not specified where this tree is located because the story has a high allegorical and symbolic meaning and invites us to focus rather on the ethical and theological message than on its geographical location. For many theologians and saints, this tree symbolises moral awareness, maturity and human responsibility.  St. Augustine interprets it as a test of obedience and free will: "The fruit of the tree was good not by its nature, but as a sign of a greater good: man's submission to God" (from De Genesi ad litteram, on Genesis verbatim). The serpent asks the woman if it is true that God has commanded not to eat of any of the trees in the garden and she, being very honest, corrects him by answering that one can eat the fruit of the trees in the garden, except of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden because God has said: "You must not eat of it nor touch it, otherwise you will die" (Gen 3:1-3).  She thinks she is rectifying, but, without knowing it, she has already distorted the truth: the simple fact of having entered into conversation with the serpent has distorted her gaze and one could say that now it is the tree that hides the forest because she sees the forbidden tree in the middle of the garden and not instead the tree of life. Now the trap is set and the serpent continues his work of seduction by saying that they will not die at all, and God knows that the day they eat of it their eyes will be opened and they will be like God, knowing what makes them happy or unhappy. To become like God with a simple magic act is irresistible and the woman allows herself to be tempted. Lapidary is the conclusion: "She took of her fruit and ate of it, then she gave it also to her husband, who was with her, and he also ate of it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew that they were naked; they plaited fig leaves and made themselves belts out of them"(6-7).  Until that moment, their nakedness (i.e. their fragility) did not seem to make them very uncomfortable, whereas now they are ashamed 'in front' of each other. This is where the relationship - one in front of the other - came into crisis, with all the consequences that mark the difficulties of relationships between us human beings.  They used to trust God, but the serpent whispered that not only was God an antagonist to them, but he was even afraid because you - he told them - 'would be like God'. In reality, their eyes have been opened, but their gaze is completely distorted: from now on they will live in fear of God and that is why they hide. But God does not abandon them, on the contrary, he seeks them out despite the fact that the original project has been contradicted: by now man has broken his relationship as a happy creature with God and is subject to fear, to discomfort in the search for his own autonomy. To the Creator's questions, the man and the woman answer the pure truth without adding or subtracting anything: both have allowed themselves to be seduced and have disobeyed. The man says that the woman gave him the fruit and the woman adds that she was deceived by the serpent: in short, everything comes from the serpent. At this point the Lord assails the serpent: "for you have done this, you cursed of all wild animals. The conclusion we can draw from this highly symbolic tale is that evil is not in man, and this is a fundamental statement of the Bible. In the face of pessimistic civilisations, which consider humanity to be intrinsically evil, biblical revelation affirms that evil is external to man: when we allow ourselves to be lured onto wrong paths, it is because we are deceived and seduced, and the struggle of all the prophets throughout the ages has aimed to counter the innumerable seductions that threaten man, primarily idolatry. Evil is completely alien to God and His wrath is always against that which destroys man. Where does evil come from if God does not want it? As already mentioned, it is clear in the Bible that evil is not part of man's nature and does not even come from God. Legitimate was the desire of the progenitors to be like gods and God does not reproach them for this having created them in his likeness and his very breath (ruah) is the breath of man. The problem is that they have succumbed to Satan's lie, certain that they can fulfil this aspiration on their own, with a sort of magical gesture, and the result is that they discover themselves naked, unhappy. All is not lost, however, and here is the most beautiful news that we read in this biblical page: God intimates to the serpent "I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and her offspring: she shall crush your head, and you shall undermine (in Hebrew shuph means to crush, to wound, to ambush, to ambush) her heel". A fierce fight is announced between the serpent and the woman's lineage, but the final outcome is already certain: the serpent will be struck in the head, which is its most vulnerable part and the point from which the bite and the poison come. The woman's lineage will be crushed, and the snake will strike and wound her heel. The wound in the heel is symbolic of the sufferings of all kinds of humanity and the voluntary sufferings of Christ crucified, a wound that is not definitive because the Risen One coming out of the tomb defeats Satan forever. Ultimately, these words of God to the serpent constitute a promise of hope of redemption fully realised in Christ. Christian tradition has glimpsed in this Genesis account a distant announcement of the victory of the New Eve, Mary, to the point of calling it a 'proto-gospel', that is, a 'pre-gospel'. Mary is considered a key element in God's plan of redemption, as she is the mother of Christ, the Saviour who defeated sin and death. Her participation in the divine plan of salvation is illuminated by the biblical texts, while subsequent theological reflection has enriched our understanding and better focused on Mary's role throughout history. One of the titles attributed to her in the Christian tradition is precisely that of the New Eve because if Eve was the woman who, by her disobedience, introduced sin into the world, Mary is the one who, by her docile and total obedience to God, made the incarnation of Christ possible.  Just as sin entered the world through a woman, salvation enters through another woman, Mary, through whom God gave the world its Saviour. The Mother of Christ is seen as a co-operator in God's victory over sin and death, and her obedience, sacrifice and intercession make her a central figure in the entire plan of salvation. Finally, three notes to better understand this text: 

1.According to the Hebrew text (Gen 2:9), one should speak of "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil", but such a translation, although correct from a grammatical point of view and often taken up in our translations, could lead to a serious misunderstanding: the terms "good" and "evil" in Italian, as in other languages, have an abstract sense that does not correspond to the concrete and existential sensitivity of Jewish thought. This is why the expression "tree of knowledge of what makes one happy or unhappy" is preferable.  

2. The knowledge of good and evil brings to mind King Solomon traditionally regarded as the symbol of wisdom and enlightened judgement. He asked God not for riches or power, but for a wise and intelligent heart to rule the people with justice (1 Kings 3:9). God granted him and made him the wisest king of his time. According to the biblical view, wisdom is not pure human intelligence, but a gift from God to discern good from evil; it is the ability to rule justly and make just decisions; it is the pursuit of universal knowledge, of nature, of the laws of the cosmos and of human life, as witnessed by the books attributed to Solomon, including Proverbs, Qoelet and the Song of Songs. Finally, it is practical and moral wisdom that integrates intellectual knowledge, moral justice and prudence in human relations. Solomon's reputation as a sage attracted rulers and scholars from distant lands, such as the Queen of Sheba, who visited him to test his wisdom (1 Kings 10:1-13). Wisdom was sought in his court because it is the true way of life.  

3.The biblical account of the sin of the progenitors invites humility because only to God belongs the possession of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, of what makes one happy or unhappy: it is therefore inaccessible to man. What to do then? The Bible invites us to feed daily on the tree of life, which is God's Law, the Torah. Unfortunately, what tempts man is always the thirst for knowledge seduced by the thirst for power in all its forms. God introduces us into another knowledge in the biblical sense, the only one that is really worthwhile, namely love. 

*Responsorial Psalm 97/98:

"All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God" (v.3). 

The speaker is Israel, who calls God "our God", highlighting the privileged relationship that exists between this small people and the God of the universe. A people that has little by little understood that its mission in the world is not to jealously guard this intimate relationship for itself, but to proclaim that God's love is for all men, gradually integrating the whole of humanity into the Covenant. In this psalm we perceive the 'two loves of God': God loves the people he has chosen for himself and he loves all the other peoples of the earth, whom the psalmist defines as 'the nations'. "The Lord has made known his salvation, in the eyes of the Gentiles he has revealed his righteousness" (v.2). And immediately afterwards, in verse 3, we find: "he has remembered his love, his faithfulness to the house of Israel". The house of Israel recalls what we call "the election of Israel". Behind this short phrase we perceive all the weight of history and the past: the simple words "his love" and "his faithfulness" strongly evoke the Covenant. If Israel's election is central, Israel must not forget that its testimony must shine before all mankind. Indeed, even now in the days of the Feast of Tabernacles or Tabernacles (sukkot or "harvest festival" Chag HaAsif), which commemorates the 40 years lived in the desert after the exit from Egypt, in Jerusalem the people already acclaim God as king on behalf of all mankind. This psalm therefore anticipates the day when God will be recognised as king of the whole earth. One of the great certainties that men of the Bible have progressively acquired is that God loves all mankind, not just Israel, and in this psalm, this certainty is also reflected in the very structure of the text. When God's victory is sung, his ultimate victory is also celebrated against all the forces of evil. As Christians, we can acclaim God with even greater strength, because our eyes have come to know Christ, the King of the world: with his Incarnation, the Kingdom of God, which is the Kingdom of love, has already begun.

* Second Reading Eph. 1:3-6.11-12

In just twelve verses, St Paul presents God's plan and invites us to join in his contemplation, a plan that consists in gathering humanity together to form one Man in Jesus Christ, the head of all creation: "making known to us the mystery of his will according to the kindness he had purposed in him for the government of the fullness of time: to bring all things in heaven and on earth back to Christ, the one head" (vv. 9-10).  Let us simply point out some good news. 

First news: God has a plan for each of us and for the whole of creation. History has meaning, direction and significance. For believers, the years do not follow one another evenly and history advances towards its fulfilment, bringing us closer, as St Paul writes "to the fullness of time" (v. 10). We could never have discovered this plan on our own because it is a mystery that infinitely surpasses us and in Paul's language, mystery is not a secret that God jealously guards, but rather his intimacy to which he invites us. 

Second news: God's will is all and only love. The words "blessing, love, grace, kindness" punctuate the text, which then bursts forth "in praise of the splendour of his grace (of his glory v.12,14) with which he has graced us in his beloved Son" (v.6). In praise of his grace because God is to be recognised as the God of grace, that is, the God whose love is gratuitous. Jesus has revealed to us that the heavenly Father is love, he wants us to enter into his intimacy and desires that in every circumstance his will be done, because it is always good.

Third emphasis: God's plan is fulfilled through Christ, who is mentioned many times in these verses: everything happens "through him, with him and in him", as the liturgy says. God has predestined us "to be for him adopted children through Jesus Christ" (v. 5). Christ is the centre of the world and of human history (the alpha and the omega); the beloved Son in whom the Father has "graced" us (v. 6) and in whom we shall all be gathered together at the fulfilment of time. The 'mystery' of God's will is indeed to recapitulate the whole universe in Christ. 

*Gospel Luke 1, 26-38

In Nazareth, a village at that time unknown and insignificant, in a province little considered by the authorities in Jerusalem, the angel Gabriel spoke to a girl named Mary, paying her the most sublime compliment ever received by a woman: "full of grace" (Kecharitomene) which means totally immersed in God's grace, filled with divine favour without any shadow. This virgin, Mary, little more than a teenager, at the end of the encounter and in perfect harmony, responds to God's plan with full adhesion: 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord: let it be to me according to your word'.  Between the angel's words and the Virgin's response, history has known the decisive turning point that is the hour of the Incarnation of the Word. From that moment on, nothing will ever be the same again because all the promises of the Old Testament now find their fulfilment. Indeed, every word of the angel evokes them and reveals the "fulfilment" of the expectation of the Messiah that has forever marked the course of the centuries. A king descendant of David was expected and here echoes the promise made to David by the prophet Nathan (2 Sam 7) from which the whole messianic expectation developed and constitutes the very heart of the angel Gabriel's announcement: "The Lord God will give him the throne of David his father and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom will have no end" (vv. 32-33). Another title attributed to the Messiah is "he shall be called Son of God (of the Most High)", which in biblical language means "king", referring to the promise made by God to David: every new king, on the day of his consecration, received the title of Son of God. Mary understands and reminds the angel that she is a virgin and therefore cannot conceive a child naturally. Well known is the angel's response that recalls other messianic promises, infinitely surpassing them: 'The Holy Spirit will descend upon you and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. Therefore he who is born will be holy and will be called the Son of God'.  The Messiah was expected to be invested with the power of the Holy Spirit to fulfil his mission of salvation as Isaiah had foretold: "A shoot will sprout from the trunk of Jesse, a bud will sprout from his roots. Upon him the spirit of the Lord shall rest" (Is 11:1-2), yet the announcement of the angel Gabriel goes much further because the child conceived will truly be the Son of God. Evident is Luke's insistence on this point: the child does not have a human father, but is "Son of God". The text offers two proofs/signs: firstly, Mary declares: "I know no man" (in the original text: I have no relationship with man). In addition, the angel entrusts the task of naming the child to the mother and this is a very unusual procedure, which can only be explained in the absence of a human father because it was always the father who decided on the child's name as seen in the birth of John the Baptist. The relatives turned to Zechariah, even though he was mute, and not to Elizabeth, to decide what to call the child. Moreover, when the angel reassures Mary: "the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow", it is natural to think of a new creation, bringing to mind what we read in the book of Genesis: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth... The spirit of God was upon the waters" (Gen 1:2). This same image is present in Psalm 104: "Send out your spirit, they are created" (v. 30).  The "cloud", "the shadow" of the Most High God evokes the divine presence on the Tent of Meeting during the Exodus, and on the day of the Transfiguration designates Jesus as the Son of God: "This is my Son, the chosen one; listen to him!"(Lk 9:35). 

Mary's response to such great revelations is moving and surprising, indeed it becomes a school of faith. It is of a disarming simplicity, a perfect example of "obedience of faith" as Paul says (Rom 1:5; 16:26), abandonment with total trust to the divine will. By answering 'yes, here I am', Mary joins the true believers of history.  Samuel answered: 'Speak, Lord, your servant hears you' (1 Sam 3:10) and Mary simply: 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord: let it be to me according to your word'. The term 'handmaid' proclaims full availability to God's plan and shows that a simple 'yes' is sufficient for God's works because 'nothing is impossible to God'. Thanks to the yes of Mary, an unknown girl in Nazareth, "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (Jn 1:14).  The promise of the prophet Zephaniah to the people of God, who had been stained by so many crimes and unfaithfulness that they were reduced to a small remnant, comes to mind: "Rejoice, daughter of Zion, shout for joy, Israel, rejoice and shout with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem... The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst" (Zeph 3:14-15). Today's solemnity exalts an event beyond all possible human imagination and Mary too will need her whole life to "keep all these things, pondering them in her heart" (Lk 2.19; 51). The attitude of meditation and total openness to God's will is a central aspect of Mary's life, and becomes the model of every true believer, every authentic disciple of Christ. 

*The tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Let me add a few thoughts on the symbolic value of this tree often confused with the tree of life. It is not specified where exactly it is located and this alone tells us that its location is irrelevant to its symbolic and allegorical role.  The narrative focuses on the relationship between God and Adam and Eve and each other whereby this tree serves as a test of human beings' obedience to God and invites us to understand why we human beings have difficulty relating to each other.  Specifying the geographical location would have shifted the focus away from the main theme, which is the fall and sin. Many scholars and theologians believe that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil symbolises moral awareness, maturity and human responsibility. The absence of a geographical description also suggests that the tree is not a physical object, but a symbol of knowledge that is reserved for God and not directly accessible to man. In many Jewish and Christian traditions, the tree is seen as a symbol of a boundary between the divine and the human. God does not forbid man the tree out of cruelty, but because the kind of knowledge represented by that tree - an absolute knowledge of good and evil - is a divine prerogative, and its indefinite location might suggest that it is not a physical place reachable by human beings, but represents a spiritual dimension that can only be understood through the experience of relationship with God. Every person, in a certain sense, must face in his or her life the choice symbolically represented by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In Genesis, next to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, there is also the tree of life, also not described geographically. This suggests that both trees represent aspects of spiritual life that transcend material reality. Their location is not important because they are archetypes of spiritual experiences, not physical objects.  Everything here invites reflection not on where the tree is located, but on what it represents in the journey of spiritual growth and confrontation with human freedom and responsibility.

Interpretations that see the tree of knowledge as a symbol of a transcendent reality or a boundary between the divine and the human have deep roots in both ancient and modern exegetical traditions. Here are some examples of authors and theologians, both among the Church Fathers and modern theologians, who have explored this theme:

1. St Augustine of Hippo (354-430 A.D.) interprets the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in a symbolic way, seeing it not as a mere physical tree, but as a test of obedience and free will. In his masterpiece 'The City of God', he emphasises that the tree had no inherent power, but represented the moral limit imposed by God to educate man to dependence on Him. He sees the tree as a symbol of knowledge that only God can fully possess, as man is not created to decide good and evil for himself. Work: De Genesi ad Litteram (On Genesis literally)

"The fruit of the tree was good, not by its nature, but as a sign of a greater good: man's submission to God."

2. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) in the Summa Theologiae, addresses the theme of the tree of knowledge and interprets it as a symbol of the capacity for moral discernment that God wanted to reserve for man at the appropriate time, after he had reached full maturity. According to Thomas, eating the fruit represents a rebellion against the divine order, seeking to appropriate knowledge that man alone was not ready to handle.

Work: Summa Theologiae, I-II, q. 94, a. 2 "The tree was not forbidden because of its fruit, but because of its moral significance: man had to wait for God's time to partake of full knowledge."

3. Gregory of Nyssa (4th century AD) Father of the Eastern Church, interprets the tree as a symbol of spiritual growth and the progress of the soul towards perfection. He sees the tree of knowledge as a stage that man had to reach only at a later stage, through a journey of purification and progressive knowledge of God. Work: De Hominis Opificio (On the Creation of Man) "The tree of knowledge is not evil in itself, but it becomes so when man approaches it with arrogance and disobedience, outside the time appointed by God."

4. Among modern theologians, the symbolic and transcendent interpretation of the tree is taken up by authors such as: Claus Westermann (1909-2000), a German exegete, in his commentary on Genesis, emphasises that the tree represents the moral autonomy that man seeks to gain without God. Work: Genesis (Commentary) "The tree is not merely a physical tree, but a reality that represents man's fundamental choice between trusting God or seeking his own moral independence." Henri Blocher (1942), a French evangelical theologian, interprets the tree as a symbol of the mystery of God's sovereignty, a knowledge that belongs exclusively to the Creator. Work: In the Beginning: The Opening Chapters of Genesis: "The tree represents what belongs exclusively to God: the right to define what is good and what is evil."

*In the Jewish tradition, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Etz HaDa'at Tov va-Ra') has a complex meaning and a wealth of interpretations, which often differ from Christian interpretations. While Christianity focuses on the fall and original sin, Judaism does not regard the sin of Adam and Eve as an inherited guilt, but rather as an event that offers important lessons about human beings, freedom and moral responsibility. Here are some of the main Jewish interpretations of the tree of knowledge:

1. The Tree as a symbol of maturity and discernment. Many rabbis and Jewish scholars see the tree as a symbol of the ability to discern between good and evil, a quality that Adam and Eve acquired by eating its fruit. Before eating from the tree, they lived in a state of innocence, devoid of moral awareness and responsibility.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888), one of the founders of modern Orthodox Judaism, interprets the tree as the ability to make autonomous moral choices, a necessary stage for humanity to evolve from a childlike condition to a life of responsibility. "The forbidden fruit represents the transition from childlike obedience to autonomous ethical awareness."

2. Not sin, but awareness of mortality. Some rabbis, including the philosopher Maimonides (Rambam, 1138-1204), argue that eating from the tree did not bring sin into the world, but gave human beings an awareness of their mortality and imperfect condition. For Maimonides, the tree represents sensitive and material knowledge, which contrasts with intellectual and divine knowledge. Work: Guide of the Perplexed (Moreh Nevukhim): "Before eating from the tree, Adam and Eve lived according to pure, intellectual truth; afterwards, they began to perceive the world through the lens of desire and sensible pleasure." In this view, the tree is not necessarily negative: it represents humanity's entry into a complex condition, in which good and evil, life and death, pleasure and pain are mixed.

3. Knowledge as moral responsibility. In the Midrash (rabbinic exegetical accounts), the tree is often interpreted as a test through which God wanted to teach mankind moral responsibility. Adam and Eve were not destined to remain in the Garden of Eden forever, but had to prove their ability to respect God's established boundaries. According to the Midrash Rabbah on Genesis, God wanted man to learn to respect boundaries and to understand that not everything is accessible or useful to him. The prohibition against eating from the tree symbolises the fact that human freedom is always accompanied by ethical limits. "Not everything that is desirable is good, and not everything that is permitted is necessary."

4. The fruit of the tree: symbolism and interpretations. Jewish tradition does not explicitly identify what the fruit of the tree was. However, there are several rabbinic interpretations of the type of fruit: Fig: Some commentators suggest that it was a fig, since Adam and Eve immediately covered themselves with fig leaves after eating the fruit (Genesis 3:7). Grapes: According to another midrashic tradition, the fruit may have been grapes, a symbol of desire and wine, which brings both joy and misfortune. Wheat: Some rabbis interpret the fruit as grains of wheat, symbolising knowledge and the ability to distinguish between good and evil, since in Jewish culture wheat is linked to wisdom.

5. The role of God and human freedom. In Jewish tradition, the tree of knowledge is often interpreted as a gift that God grants to human beings to enable them to become co-creators of their own destiny. Unlike the Christian tradition, which emphasises the concept of the fall and sin, Judaism emphasises the importance of freedom of choice and the possibility of rectifying one's actions through repentance (teshuvah); it is therefore seen as an educational challenge that leads human beings to grow in awareness and responsibility. Authors such as Maimonides, Hirsch and the Midrash Rabbah emphasise that the essence of the tale is the theme of moral freedom, the need to accept the limits imposed by God and the possibility of spiritual evolution.

+ Giovanni D'Ercole 

The Immaculate Conception. God bless us and may the Virgin protect us!  

Next Sunday we will celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Today I am only posting some testimonies on the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, while the day after tomorrow I will post, as usual, the commentary on the biblical texts of the liturgy of the Solemnity. You will find here today some testimonies on the dogma of the Immaculate Conception by Latin Catholic theologians, Eastern Catholic theologians, Orthodox theologians and also converts. I add at the end, simply for information, the testimony of a Muslim Sufi theologian to understand what role Mary plays for Islam. I will add in conclusion how many dogmas the Catholic Church has on Mary and what they are. 

1. Testimonies of theologians, saints and converts.

*St. Bonaventure, one of the most important Franciscan theologians, wrote that Mary was preserved from sin to be the 'worthy dwelling place' of Christ. Although he did not live when the dogma was formalised (1854), his view anticipates the logic of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. He says that since Mary was chosen to be Mother of God, God preserved her from original sin from the first moment of her existence.

* Blessed John Duns Scotus, another 13th century Franciscan theologian, is one of the best known defenders of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, which would later be proclaimed dogma by Pius IX in 1854. Scotus introduced the concept of 'preventive redemption'. According to Duns Scotus, Mary was preserved from original sin in anticipation of Christ's merits on the cross. In other words, although Mary was saved like all other human beings, she was saved before she fell into sin, precisely because of the unique role she would play as the Mother of God. This is often summed up in the phrase: 'Potuit, decuit, ergo fecit' ('God could do it, it was convenient to do it, therefore he did it').

*St. Maximilian Kolbe is one of the saints who made the dogma of the Immaculate Conception accessible and understandable through his deep Marian devotion. He linked Mary to the Holy Spirit, calling her: "The Immaculate Conception is the Bride of the Holy Spirit."

Kolbe saw Mary as the perfect reflection of God's purity and love. Her immaculacy was necessary so that she could receive Christ without any shadow of sin. According to Kolbe, Mary, in her absolute purity, is the model of holiness for the entire Church.

*St. John Paul II explained the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in a pastoral and accessible way, relating Mary to redeemed humanity. During a homily for the Immaculate Conception (8 December 1982), he said, "In Mary Immaculate we see the fulfilment of Christ's redemption, who not only freed humanity from sin, but also preserved Mary from sin from the beginning." For John Paul II, the dogma is not only a theological mystery, but also a message of hope: Mary is proof that God's grace can completely transform human life.

In conclusion: Among theologians, Blessed Duns Scotus provided one of the most elegant and fundamental explanations of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception with the theory of preventive redemption. However, for a more spiritual and pastoral vision, St Maximilian Kolbe and St John Paul II offer understandable and devotionally rich reflections, making the profound meaning of Mary as 'the Immaculate' accessible to all.

*Of the Eastern theologians, the one who has written particularly beautifully and profoundly on the Immaculate Conception of Mary is St John Damascene (675-749), one of the greatest Fathers of the Eastern Church. Although the dogma of the Immaculate Conception would not be officially defined by the Catholic Church until 1854, St. John Damascene anticipated with his thought many elements that would be fundamental to the understanding of this mystery. St. John Damascene, in his 'Discourse on the Nativity of Mary', celebrates Mary's unique purity and holiness from the moment of her conception. He describes Mary as the 'All Holy' (Panagia), the living temple of God, the pristine tabernacle chosen to house the Incarnate Word. According to Damascene, Mary was preserved from all stain of sin in order to be worthy Mother of God (Theotókos). Here is a particularly significant passage of his thought: 'Today human nature receives the first fruits of its glorification. The Virgin, the pure and immaculate dwelling place of the God of all purity, is brought into the light." Although he does not therefore explicitly develop the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception as it would later be defined, John Damascene emphasises Mary's original and extraordinary holiness, which is central to Eastern reflection on the Mother of God.*The Orthodox Church does not accept the doctrine of Mary's Immaculate Conception as it is understood and formulated by the Catholic Church (i.e. that Mary was preserved from original sin from the first moment of her conception), but it is worth knowing how many Orthodox theologians have reflected deeply on Mary's holiness and her unique purity, albeit with a different emphasis than Catholic theology. There is certainly a difference in perspective between Catholics and Orthodox because for the Catholic Church, the Immaculate Conception is about preservation from original sin, whereas 

for the Orthodox Church, Mary is venerated as Panagia (All Holy), but without the need to postulate a preservation from original sin as defined in the West. Rather, the Orthodox emphasise Mary's progressive divinisation (theosis) through her free cooperation with God's grace.

Here are some Orthodox texts on Mary's purity. One of the most profound Orthodox theologians who have written on Mary's holiness and purity is St Nicholas Cabasilas (14th century). In his commentary on the life of the Virgin Mary, he states, "The Virgin, from the first moment of her existence, began to participate in a unique way in the holiness of God, growing more and more in it until she became the living Temple of the Word."

St Gregory Palamas (1296-1359), a great hesychast theologian, also wrote significantly on Mary's purity. He emphasises her progressive sanctification and the special action of the Holy Spirit upon her: "The Mother of God was purified and sanctified more than any other creature, not only before her birth, but also in the course of her existence, until she became the living throne of God."In conclusion, even if the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is not accepted in Orthodox theology, many Orthodox Fathers and theologians have written profound texts on purity, holiness, and Mary's unique role in the plan of salvation. The difference is not in denying Mary's purity, but rather in the different understanding of original sin and sanctification.

*I also present some writers and theologians converted to Catholicism who have written profound and inspired pages on Mary's Immaculate Conception, capturing the theological and spiritual beauty of this dogma. Prominent among them are names of great significance for their literary and theological contributions. First, John Henry Newman (1801-1890), a convert from Anglicanism who later became a cardinal and was canonised by Pope Francis in 2019. He devoted intense reflections to Mary, even though he initially found it difficult to accept the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. In time, Newman realised that this truth was perfectly consistent with the doctrine of incarnation and redemption and wrote: "Mary was preserved from original sin not for herself, but for Christ, that she might be a pure and worthy tabernacle for the Son of God." In his famous essay 'Letter to Pusey', Newman clearly defends Marian devotion and the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) an English writer and apologist, converted to Catholicism from Anglicanism, did not directly write treatises on the Immaculate Conception, but a deep love and respect for the figure of Mary shines through in his works. In particular, Chesterton describes her as the model of humility and purity that is essential for understanding the Incarnation. In 'The Eternal Man', he writes: "Christianity has made the universe smaller to make a heart larger, and the world has found a Queen in the humility of the Virgin." Edith Stein (St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, 1891-1942), born Jewish, later a philosopher and disciple of Husserl, converted to Catholicism and became a Carmelite nun. In her spiritual and philosophical writings, she treated the figure of Mary as an example of purity, humility and total openness to God's will. Referring to the Immaculate Conception, she wrote: "Mary is the image of the perfectly redeemed creature: not only did she never sin, but she was preserved from the beginning, to be totally God's and the Mother of his Son." In his book 'Woman and her Vocation', he extols Mary's spiritual motherhood as the fruit of her immaculate purity. Louis Bouyer (1913-2004), a Lutheran pastor and later a Catholic theologian, Bouyer deepened Marian doctrine in his theological studies. In his book 'The Throne of Wisdom', he explores Mary's role in God's salvific plan, emphasising how the Immaculate Conception is the first step in the new creation: 'Mary was conceived by God as the fulfilment of ancient Israel and the dawn of the new humanity, without blemish, to welcome the Word who became flesh."

Jacques Maritain (1882-1973), a French philosopher who converted from agnosticism to Catholicism, wrote about the Immaculate Conception emphasising its metaphysical and spiritual significance. In his book 'La Vie de la Grâce', Maritain defines Mary as the masterpiece of God's prevenient grace: "Mary is the woman redeemed in advance, the perfect image of man as God had conceived him before the fall."

*Mary is also venerated and loved in the Islamic religion with all the differences of a theological nature that must never be forgotten. It is worth knowing, however, although not related to the dogma of the Immaculate Conception but nevertheless concerning Mary, a particularly significant text on the figure of Mary (Maryam) in Islamic mysticism (tasawwuf), that of Ibn 'Arabi (1165-1240), one of the greatest Sufis in Islamic history. In his masterpiece Futuhat al-Makkiyya (The Revelations of Mecca), Ibn 'Arabi dedicates profound reflections to Mary, recognised in Islam as a model of purity, obedience and closeness to God. Ibn 'Arabi describes Mary as one of the highest manifestations of female wilaya (holiness) and sees her as a symbol of the perfectly purified soul that welcomes the divine Word. He compares her to the prophets, attributing to her a unique spiritual role: 'Mary is the symbol of the Virgin of the Soul who, purified of all worldly contamination, becomes the place where the divine Word becomes incarnate. Just as Jesus (ʿĪsā) was born of Mary for the world, so divine knowledge is born in the soul that has been made pure." According to Ibn 'Arabi, Mary's motherhood is not only physical, but also spiritual. In her, the mystery of the union between heaven and earth, between the divine and the human, is fulfilled: "Mary represents the human being who, while remaining a creature, becomes the receptacle of the Word of God (Kalimatullah), welcoming in her heart the breath of the Holy Spirit (Ruh al-Qudus)."  Ibn 'Arabi emphasises that Mary's virginity is not just a physical fact, but a symbol of the inner purity required to receive the knowledge of God. Mary thus becomes the prototype of the human being who achieves spiritual perfection through complete submission to the divine will: "When the human soul is free from all attachment, it becomes like Mary: ready to conceive, in her virginal heart, the Word that comes from God."

For Sufis, Mary is the manifestation of one of the fundamental divine qualities: taharah (purity). She is worshipped not only for her physical motherhood, but for her spiritual role as an example of a perfect servant of God (abd Allah), who surrenders herself completely to the divine will: 'God chose Mary, purified her, and elected her above all the women of the world' (Qur'an 3:42). In this sense, Mary is not only the mother of Jesus, but also a guide for Sufi mystics who seek union with God through purity, humility and divine love. Ultimately, for Ibn 'Arabi and other Sufi mystics, Mary is not only a historical figure, but an eternal symbol of the possibility of each soul to become the place where God manifests Himself. Her life represents the inner journey towards knowledge, purity and union with the divine.

2. Finally, for the sake of completeness, I summarise the four dogmas of the Catholic Church concerning Mary 

1.Dogma of the Divine Maternity (Theotókos), Mary is Mother of God. It was proclaimed at the Council of Ephesus in 431 and this is the central sentence of the Council of Ephesus: "If anyone does not confess that Emmanuel is God and that therefore the Blessed Virgin is the Mother of God (Theotókos), let him be anathema; 

2.Dogma of Mary's perpetual virginity. Mary is always a virgin: before, during and after the birth of Jesus and the dogma was proclaimed and officially defined by the Lateran Council of 649, but believed from the earliest centuries. The central phrase of the dogma: "Mary conceived virginally, gave birth without corruption, and remained a perpetual virgin."

3.Dogma of the Immaculate Conception (Mary is without original sin). The dogma of the Immaculate Conception was defined on 8 December 1854 by Blessed Pope Pius IX with the papal bull 'Ineffabilis Deus'. The dogma proclaims that Mary, from the first instant of her conception, was preserved free from original sin, thanks to the merits of Jesus Christ. The dogmatic definition is found in the final part of the bull, and reads, "We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most blessed Virgin Mary, at the first instant of her conception, by the singular grace and privilege of Almighty God, in anticipation of the merits of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original guilt, has been revealed by God and, therefore, must be firmly and constantly believed by all the faithful." 

*"First instant of her conception": Indicates that Mary was preserved from original sin from the moment she was conceived in the womb of her mother, St. Anne.

*"By singular grace and privilege": This special state of Mary is not by her own merit, but a free gift from God.

*'In anticipation of the merits of Jesus Christ': Mary was saved from sin not independently of Christ, but through the redemption wrought by her Son. It is a preventive redemption, unique in its kind.

*'Revealed by God': The dogma is based on a revealed truth, which has been believed by the Church throughout the centuries, although only formalised in 1854. Faith in the Immaculate Conception of Mary was already rooted in the tradition of the Church, especially in medieval theology and popular devotion. In 1854, Pope Pius IX wanted to officially proclaim this doctrine to strengthen the Catholic faith in an era marked by increasing challenges to Christianity. The dogma was admirably confirmed a few years later, in 1858, when the Virgin appeared to St Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, presenting herself with the words: "I am the Immaculate Conception." This event further strengthened the devotion and understanding of the dogma by the faithful.

4 Dogma of the Assumption of Mary. Mary was assumed in body and soul to the glory of heaven. It was proclaimed by Pope Pius XII in the Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus on 1 November 1950. This is the central sentence of the dogma: "The Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed into heavenly glory in body and soul." At the end of her earthly life, Mary did not suffer corruption of the body, but was glorified in heaven. It is not specified whether she died or was directly assumed into eternal life.

+Giovanni D’Ercole

God bless us and may the Virgin protect us!

Here is a brief commentary on the readings for next Sunday [1 December 2024].

First Reading: Jeremiah 33, 14 - 16. 

*The language of hope 

"Behold, the days will come when I will fulfil the promise of happiness that I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah". We find these words in the first reading from the book of Jeremiah (33:14-16); however, they are considered later than the time of the prophet and believed to be an addition to the Septuagint version dating from around 250 BC; the author would probably be a disciple, a spiritual son of Jeremiah. The speaker is therefore not Jeremiah, but this spiritual son of his who, at a time when despair reigns for the future of God's people, recalls the words of the prophet Jeremiah, who lived several centuries earlier. Jeremiah had then prophesied thus: "I will bring forth for David a shoot of righteousness" (23:5; 33:15). In this prophecy there are two symbols: the sprout and the name of the new king linked to "righteousness". The sprout is a symbol that suggests a completely free beginning on God's part and refers to the birth of a new king, a descendant of David in Jerusalem. At that time it was difficult to believe this promise announced by Jeremiah because, after David's death, his dynasty had practically died out. Then there had been the Babylonian deportation, Jerusalem occupied, the Temple destroyed, the country devastated and the population decimated. Among the survivors almost all were taken prisoner and exiled to Babylon, so that the small Jewish colony seemed destined to die far from its own land. Many anxieties arose: would Israel disappear from the map and where would the promises of the prophets end? Had not the prophet Nathan announced to David and his descendants an eternal kingdom with a king who would establish security, peace and justice for all? Many were the problems associated with the destruction of the Davidic monarchy, and divisions and quarrels arose whereby few people remained faithful to the Torah. In the face of so much anguish, there was a need to instil hope and this is the reason why there was an insistence on emphasising God's faithfulness to his promises, which is the foundation of hope. To the many discouraged people who feared that Israel would not advance towards the Kingdom of God, the prophet replied: Have faith, believe, for it is precisely in times of darkness that faith must stand firm. And so it is in our lives. Never give in to discouragement because when God promises, he always fulfils his plans of salvation. We know neither when nor how, but God always intervenes. The language of hope is a challenge to reason and an act of faith, a great lesson in trust and a fine example of a prophetic word, proclaiming light even and especially in the darkest days. We are all at risk when we allow ourselves to be dominated by the anxiety of discouragement in the face of difficulties, and in these situations we allow ourselves to be assailed by thoughts such as: if God exists, why does he not intervene to bring peace, harmony and fraternity to the world? Why is the Kingdom of God taking so long to come about? Then, as in all times, we must continue to hope and base the language of hope on two invincible truths: firstly, the certainty that God never fails in his promises, and secondly, that God always brings his plans to fruition despite all obstacles. The other symbol is the name that is in the closing sentence of the passage: 'The Lord is our righteousness' (Sedeq Yah), which is the name of King Sedekiah 'the righteousness of God'. This last king of Judah was deported to Babylon, they killed his sons and blinded him with cruelty and it was thought that all this happened because he had not honoured his mission and had not listened to the prophet Jeremiah. The prophetic text here reverses the meaning of the name Sedekiah which means Justice of God expressed in the phrase "The Lord is our righteousness", to indicate that instead the true King will arise who will embody the biblical justice concerning the integral salvation of man and humanity and offer it to the disappointed, suffering and weary people: it will be faithful, great and lasting.

Responsorial Psalm 24 (25), 4-5, 8-9, 10. 14  

*Finding one's way

"The Lord shows sinners the right way" (v.8).  This verse introduces us into the context of Psalm 24/25: we are in a penitential celebration at the Temple in Jerusalem, and the language of the path is typical of penitential psalms, because sin is a wrong way and conversion requires a genuine turning back. In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses called for walking in all things in the way the Lord has prescribed (5:32-33). Those who repent recognise that they have taken wrong paths and beg God to lead them back to the right path. But what is the right path? It is the observance of God's Law, and to emphasise this, this psalm was composed in a very particular way. It is in fact an alphabetical psalm, intentionally structured as an acrostic and, controlling the column of letters, forming the entire Hebrew alphabet from top to bottom. This way of composing psalms, called alphabetical, is in practice a profession of faith and always revolves around the same theme: Israel's love for the Torah, the love of and for God is the only way to happiness: love for the Torah is "the alphabet of happiness". For the believing Jew, the Law is not a command but a gift from God, a sign of his tenderness towards all humanity. In fact, the term Law (Torah) is not derived from a root meaning "to prescribe" but from the verb "to teach" and the theme "teach me your ways" is very present in this psalm. If God has given us the Law, it is for our happiness. The Law is the instruction manual of our freedom to be happy, the code of the way that leads us to happiness: "All the paths of the Lord are love and faithfulness for those who keep his covenant and his precepts" (v.10).  "Lord teach me your paths" (v.4). The alphabetical method is a way of confirming attachment to the Law and a true desire to follow it; a profession of faith and at the same time a resolution. Especially after the return from Babylon, in the penitential celebration the people acknowledged their unfaithfulness to the Covenant; they were aware that the misfortunes that had occurred were the consequence and asked for forgiveness. At the same time, they were certain that faithfulness is only possible in the future with God's help, and they were almost anxious about not being able to do so, asking for help for this, as we read in the last verse of the psalm: "O God, deliver Israel from all its anguish" (v.22). Let it not be forgotten that for the Jews the greatest sin is idolatry and the first conversion consists in denying idols to return to the one living God. Prompted by Psalm 24/25, we too, at the beginning of Advent, decide to walk a penitential path that is preparatory to true joy; joy that the celebration of Christmas will give us a foretaste of.

Second Reading: from the First Letter of St Paul to the Thessalonians 3,12-4,2 

* Advent is an opportunity to put our lives into perspective 

When about twenty years after Christ's resurrection, Paul arrived in Thessalonica, a trading port and capital of the province of Macedonia under Roman rule, there were many foreigners and a large Jewish community. His preaching was successful as we read in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 17:3-4) with Jews and pagans whom he invited to reject idols. This latter success, however, aroused the wrath of the Jews hostile to Jesus, to the point of forcing Paul to flee. Anticipating that persecution by the Jews would ensue, some time later Paul sent Timothy to the fledgling Christian community in Thessalonica to sustain their faith so that none would waver, and Timothy returned with the 'good news' of their perseverance in faith and love.  The verses of today's passage of the letter speak of Paul's emotion when he learned the news, after which he invites the Thessalonians to continue on the right path until the day of Christ's return and specifies: "You know what rules of life we have given you from the Lord Jesus" (3:12-4:2,) as if to say: you know how to walk and so walk like this.  Yesterday as today, the Christian challenge is to orientate one's entire existence in the perspective of waiting for the return of Christ, the day when the Lord Jesus will come with all his saints. This exhortation of Paul is topical in a society like ours, which seems to have lost the direction of its march.  The Christian, according to the apostle's teaching, does not remain staring at the past, but looks to the One who is our future and who gives meaning to the present: "May the Lord make you grow in love to make your hearts firm and blameless in holiness before God our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints" (3:13). And this is because to know God means in truth to love. As St John writes, God is love and he alone is able to make us holy in love (1 John 4:8).

Gospel according to Luke ( 21, 25-28, 34-36)

 *The apocalyptic style 

The liturgical year B ended last Sunday with the apocalyptic literary genre and the new year C opens with the same style. Apocalyptic discourse is frightening and the term 'apocalypse' has a bad reputation being synonymous with horror, whereas in truth, in the biblical context, it expresses the opposite. It is therefore necessary to bear this observation in mind beforehand, remembering that the story should never be taken literally. The Greek verb apocaluptô means "to lift the veil" and in Latin is translated as "revelare" that is, to reveal. It may be useful to reflect briefly on this literary genre, of which we highlight at least four particular characteristics: 

1.The apocalyptic genre deals with writings of distress, wars, occupation by foreigners, persecution as in the book of Daniel (2nd century BC). It presents enemies and persecutors as terrible monsters and it is natural that, for this reason, 'apocalypse' becomes synonymous with frightening events. 

2.Revelation also presents words and writings of consolation to strengthen the faithfulness of believers and encourage them to hope and endure in the face of martyrdom since we are in times of harsh persecution. 

3.Revelation also takes on a different meaning in biblical texts because they reveal the hidden side of history by announcing God's final victory and in this light invite us to look to the future with confidence. The descriptions of cosmic changes are in fact symbolic images of the reversal of situations with a single message: in every situation God always has the last word. 

4.Finally, the apocalyptic style in each text is an invitation to active vigilance, rejecting passive and inert waiting, so that one must live each day in the light of hope.

 These four types are all present in today's gospel. 

1. We see times of distress described with frightening signs to indicate that the present world is passing away (vv. 25-26); 

2. a word of consolation emerges, inviting endurance: "Your deliverance is at hand (v.28)

 3. The word of Christ reveals the hidden meaning of history by announcing the coming of the Son of Man (v.27).  The expression "Son of Man" indicates what Daniel calls "the people of the saints of God" (Dan 7:12). After the resurrection, the disciples realised that the title Son of Man that Jesus gives himself is because he is both man and God, the first-born of the new humanity, the Head that makes us one Body. At the end of history, we will all be as "one man, grafted into him and thus "the people of the saints of the Most High". 

4. Finally, Revelation also means that active vigilance is indispensable: "Rise up and lift up your heads ... watch yourselves ... keep watch at all times by praying" (v.36).  

In the Gospel two ways of living are highlighted: those who do not believe resign themselves to an inevitable destiny and unfortunately some live practically like this; the believer/faithful instead do not let themselves be surprised because they know the ultimate meaning of history, and they are certain that liberation is at hand and evil will be defeated forever. And this is the Christian challenge, testimony/martyrdom required of those who want to be disciples of the crucified and risen Christ. At the beginning of Advent, these biblical texts spur us on to begin a new liturgical year with watchful expectation, and accompanying us will be St Luke, the evangelist of mercy, joy, the universality of salvation, with a special focus on the figure of Mary, prayer and the action of the Holy Spirit.

Happy Advent!

+Giovanni D'Ercole