Homily

As we take our first steps toward the Christmas of our Lord, we encounter the figure of a great prophet, John the Baptist; the evangelist presents him as a man who wore clothing of camel hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. He withdraws into the desert of Judea, far from Jerusalem, and he speaks strangely, but very clearly. "You brood of vipers," he says to anyone who oppresses the weakest, forecasting God’s wrath that will descend upon them. To everyone else, he adds that the axe is already lying at the root of the trees: whoever does not bear good fruits will be cut down and thrown into the fire. His invectives, then, put the inhabitants of Jerusalem on guard because they have become distant from God and his love.
John kept himself at a distance from Jerusalem. He stripped himself of everything, drawing his strength only from his voice: "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness." Yes, his true name is "The voice of one crying out." He is but one voice, and yet he points out the way to salvation: "Prepare the way of the Lord." Today, this prophet returns among us. But who is he? He is the Gospel. This word is a voice that points to ways different from those of oppression, selfishness, disrespect, violence and indifference. John and the Gospel repeat: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." Our ways are often far removed from the Gospel. Converting ourselves means, then, asking first and foremost for forgiveness for the distance we place between ourselves and the Gospel, between ourselves and the Lord Jesus. The Lord forgives us and lays bear before our eyes his vision, the very same vision that Isaiah saw: a world where "The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." This world is void of violence and abundant in benevolence and friendship; it is the kingdom of God that supplants the sadness and violence of our world where people continue to fight each other, where terrorism sows seeds of anguish, where people unleash themselves on their neighbours, where one part of the same nation opposes another, where each individual encloses himself in his/her own egocentrism and cares only about defending his/her own interests.
We need the coming of God and his kingdom. And God is coming; in fact, he is already at the door. This is the good news of Christmas, and it has the face of a child. Yes, the Child of Bethlehem will guide us toward the kingdom. The small book of the Gospel, if we read it lovingly, will illuminate and guide us. Today, the Holy Spirit that is infused in our hearts is like a fire; it will heat up our heart so that we may no longer be slaves to our egoism; it will guide our steps so that we may no longer wander in circles; it will hold up our hands so that we may reach out to help those in need; it will strengthen our legs so that we may walk the ways of love; and, it will illuminate our mind so that we may recognize what is true and beautiful in life.