December 7, 2025
Second Sunday of Advent
Fr. Matteo Munari
Peace and goodness from Fr. Matteo Munari from the Convent of the Flagellation in Jerusalem.
In the Gospel of the 2nd Sunday of Advent (Year A) we hear the preaching of John the Baptist, which is above all a call to conversion.
The opening words “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” are the same that Jesus will use at the beginning of his ministry (Mt 4:17). This sense of continuity in the message of the preachers is a pastoral tool of great help for people who seek the light of God.
John was an austere man who nourished himself with the presence of God in his life; therefore, he did not feel the need for fleeting consolations. This freedom also led him to say what was not convenient for him and to take a stand against the most powerful religious parties, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and later, as we know, against King Herod. This will cost him his life.
The message he addresses to the Pharisees and Sadducees is a threatening invitation to conversion. To make straight the way of the Lord in their hearts, John destroys their illusion of being saved simply by belonging to the chosen people. Race neither saves nor condemns anyone; only returning to the Lord and adhering to his will opens the doors to grace and mercy.
The image of God who can raise up children of Abraham from stones evokes the twelve stones set up by Joshua in the Jordan on the occasion of the entrance of the people of Israel into the promised land. However, the generation that enters is the one born during the journey in the desert. It is the generation that has replaced the one that came out of Egypt: it did not enter because, as Jos 5:6 teaches us, it did not listen to the voice of the Lord.
John announces the coming of the Messiah, a figure so important that he is not worthy to be his slave. John understands that his coming will surpass the expectations of the people and that the power of his word will destroy the forces of evil.
However, from the words of the Baptist it is clear that he expects a violent intervention of God that will put an end to the injustice of this world. Yet he will have to confront a very different way of acting of the Messiah, who will choose humility, meekness, and obedience as privileged instruments for the redemption of humanity.
May the Lord help us to listen to his voice, to return to him, and to do his will so that our joy may be full in the light of his presence.
Amen.
