OMELIE / Omelie EN

05 gen 2020

05/01/2020 – 2nd Sunday of Christmas 

05/01/2020 – 2^nd Sunday of Christmas 

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

The Father has blessed us, and His blessing is Jesus Christ Himself! In these days we slow down again to consider His coming in the world: He made Himself “flesh” to be able to live among us, to be at the same level as us. He wanted to immerse Himself in our situation in order to love us, to make us notice that we are never alone: in fact, He is with us! To all those who are feeling lonely – and they are so for different reasons – we can repeat this certainty. Jesus Himself, when He realised men were leaving Him alone, said:  “I am not alone, because the Father is with me”! Jesus' certainty becomes ours: I am not alone, Jesus is with us!

“And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us”: this is the core message of the Christmas festivities we are living. Men, despite their similarity and their desire for communion, are not able, we are not able to get so close to one another to feel like brothers, to feel like we are one single heart, to the point we can trust the faith we have in one another. This becomes possible only through Jesus: when He is in us and among us, then it becomes natural, almost expected, for us to feel each other's company, united, brothers and even friends. It is really necessary for Jesus, the Son of God, to be a man like us. Without Him we would not be able to fully develop the most beautiful human skills, we would be empty, we would feel like we did not realize our full potential, lacking what our heart desires in the most ardent way. It has become famous Saint Augustine’s quote: “Restless is our heart until it comes to rest in thee”! Christmas let us experience this rest, because Jesus is with us, in us, among us.

The crib is a vague image, too poor, to represent the reach of the event we are celebrating. It is poor, but useful, because it helps our memory and all our feelings to keep the memory of the true and holy Presence of God alive, the God of love and peace, in every room. The Christmas tree too, with all the lights and ornaments we are able to hang on it, can tell very little of what is happening when Jesus is accepted. “To those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God”!

Are we already children of God when we are born? Yes, God treats us and loves us as His children, but because we do not have the Son of God at the centre of our heart and our thoughts, not even we are able to become aware that we are children of God. When Jesus is welcomed by us as our Teacher and Lord, then  we start enjoying having a Father, being children of His in God’s eyes, and therefore we also desire to behave in a way to show everyone some aspects of the love of our Father and of that Son who has entered our life: the faithfulness, the mercy, the generosity, the selfless love, the forgiveness, the purity, the simplicity, the gratuitousness, the humility.

I would like for myself, and for you too, what Saint Paul hopes for and tirelessly asks for in his prayer: “The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him”. When this happens, it comes to life and grows our brotherly communion, and with the latter our joy and our desire to live and die, to live a long life in order to take part in God’s plan of love, to die soon in order to fully enjoy the light of His face and the joy of His heart!

When you remember this Word: “Made his dwelling among us”, do you feel the desire to see Him, to meet Him? Do you feel the desire to enjoy His company? Do you feel the need to make His ‘dwelling’ visibile, welcoming for Him and welcoming for those like you who would like to be close to Him? Do you take any step to truly meet Him and not to let this Word be written only on paper or stuck in the echoing of some Christmas carol?

Let us thank the Father who wanted His Word to come to dwell among us. Please be aware of how the first reading makes us admire the determination with which God wanted His decision to come true: « I have struck root among a glorious people, in the portion of the Lord, his heritage; and in the company of the holy ones do I linger». So we praise Him, we give thanks to Him, we bless Him, while we try to promise Him to remain focused on and pay attention to the Son who by now is among us forever!