December 23, 2025
Advent Feria
Fr. Samuele Salvatori
May the Lord give you peace, I am fr. Samuele Salvatori of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum of Jerusalem.
We are now at the threshold of Christmas. Only a few days remain before the celebration of the mystery of the Incarnation, and the liturgy of the Word, with great wisdom, once again makes us pause on the threshold of the promise, presenting to us the birth of John the Baptist, the Forerunner. It is as if the Church were telling us: before contemplating the Child who is born in Bethlehem, stop and listen to what God is accomplishing in the heart of humanity.
Today’s Gospel, however, does not place John at the center, but Zechariah. His figure accompanies us in this season of Advent like a mirror in which we can recognize ourselves. Faced with the announcement of the angel, Zechariah is unable to believe. The birth of a son, so deeply desired and long prayed for, becomes unbelievable in his eyes because he looks only at his own old age, at his own limits, at human evidence. Zechariah struggles to believe that the grace of God can still surprise, that God can do what seems impossible.
Is this not also our experience? Even today, like Zechariah, we struggle to believe. We look at the world around us and see wars, violence, hatred, divisions. Here, in the land of Jesus, the Holy Land, all this is even more evident and painful. It seems that human power wants to take the place of God’s power, that the logic of force prevails over that of love. We ask the Lord for peace every day, but deep in our hearts we do not believe that He can truly give it to us. And if we are honest, we do not see evil only outside of us, but also within us: in our sin, in our falls, in the difficulty of truly trusting in God.
And yet, today’s Gospel opens a glimmer of light. Zechariah, after the time of silence, regains his speech at the moment he accepts the will of God. He and Elizabeth insist on giving the child the name John, a name that does not come from family tradition, but from God’s promise. John means: “The Lord has shown grace.” This is the key to the entire account. It is not human ability that brings salvation, but the grace of God welcomed with faith.
When Zechariah writes that name, his mouth is opened and his tongue is loosened: faith rediscovered becomes praise. Only those who welcome grace can sing of the wonders of the Lord. Only those who open themselves to faith can become witnesses.
On the eve of Christmas, this Gospel invites us to take a decisive step: to open our hearts to faith, to believe that the grace of God can still change the human heart, can bring peace where there is hatred, reconciliation where there is division, hope where despair seems to reign. Like Zechariah and Elizabeth, like Mary, let us learn to trust in the promise. Then we too, with our lives, will be able to sing the praises of the Lord and be witnesses of His grace in the world.
Dear brothers and sisters, peace to you from the Holy Land.
