December 13, 2025
Second Saturday of Advent
Fr. Agustin Pelayo
Dear brothers and sisters,
here, from our beloved Holy Land, this Gospel resounds with a special light. Jesus comes down from the mountain after the Transfiguration and the disciples ask him, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" Jesus answers that Elijah has already come, but he has not been recognized. And the disciples understand that He is talking about John the Baptist.
This passage reminds us of something very simple and very true: sometimes God passes by us, but we do not recognize Him. He passes through simple people, through everyday situations, through a poor man knocking at the door or a brother asking to be heard... but our eyes are distracted, full of other things, and we risk not seeing.
John the Baptist had come to prepare the way of the Lord, but many did not listen to him. So it happens again today: the voice of God keeps speaking to us, but we are not always ready to receive it.
Jesus adds, "The Son of Man will also suffer from them." He, too, will not be recognized. In the Holy Land we hear this word in a special way: here Jesus passed, here He spoke, here He loved, here He suffered. Yet even today this Land sees misunderstandings, tensions, suffering. How often we fail to recognize the presence of the Lord who continues to walk with us!
Brothers, the question then is simple: how can we recognize God today?
Perhaps not in great miracles, but
- in an act of patience,
- in an act of forgiveness,
- in a service done with love,
- in a good word spoken to the lonely.
Here, in the Land of the Gospel, we have a great gift: every stone, every street, every face reminds us that God has entered our history in a concrete way. And we are called to have attentive eyes, eyes that can recognize him.
We ask the Lord today for a simple heart, like that of the disciples, a heart that knows how to listen to God's voice and welcome it. And we ask that we ourselves be signs of his presence for those who meet us.
May the Lord give us eyes to see and a heart to recognize his passage in our lives.
Amen.
