Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

THE FIRST MEETING OF JESUS ​​CHRIST AND JOHN BAPTIST IN THE WELLS OF THEIR MOTHERS

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“If I were a philosopher, I should write a philosophy of toys, to show that Christmas Day in the company of children is one of the few occasions when men become fully alive!»

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Author:
Gabriele Giordano M. Scardocci, o.p.

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Dear readers of the Island of Patmos,

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imagine the expectation of a mother who has to give birth to her baby, but also that of her father who accompanied and protected the pregnant woman. Then there is also the expectation of all the other relatives. The days of childbirth are spasmodic days. In these cases, there is a feeling of joy in everyone, but also of curiosity, how to get to know the new unborn child, pick him up. There is the joy and curiosity of an intimate encounter. These sentiments are also the fruit of faith which is an intimate encounter with the Lord.

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Both Elizabeth and Mary knew this well. In the today's readings they teach us the beauty of faith in Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word, small child ready to embrace our humanity and fragility. In those days Maria got up and went quickly to the mountainous region, in a city of Judah. Entry into the house of Zaccarìa, greeted Elizabeth. The passage from today's visitation shows us Mary moving in a hurry to Elizabeth's house. Why this rush? Because there is a certain anxiety to meet someone you love, when you are poured out by the love of God. It was just the case with Maria, who had received the Angel's announcement shortly before and was now pregnant with Jesus. Mary therefore, filled with the love of Jesus, runs to meet her cousin. As soon as Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leapt in her womb.

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The Baptist, when it is a very small embryo in his mother's womb, he realizes that this is a special moment. The two children meet through their mothers: it is the moment in which there is the definitive passage between the Old and the New Testament. Between the Baptist, last announcer and forerunner of Jesus, and Christ himself. The encounter with Christ, which always makes us exult with joy, generates a start in the tiny John.

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This questions our faith and our life as believers. We can try to remember the moment when we too first encountered Jesus. It was a happy moment for everyone, unique and sacred. Also brought to our relatives and our mother par excellence, the church. Let's try, in these few days before Christmas, to remember and remember our first communion or a beautiful moment of intimate prayer of encounter with Jesus.

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Going further, as soon as Elizabeth hears her son start, she is filled with the Holy Spirit. Here then the joy is transmitted by John to her. At that point he can exclaim his profession of faith:

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«Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and cried out in a loud voice: “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb! To what do I owe the mother of my Lord to come to me? there, as soon as your greeting reached my ears, the baby leapt for joy in my womb. And blessed is she who believed in the fulfillment of what the Lord told her "".

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Elizabeth asks Mary a question. Why did you come here, mother of the Lord? Immediately afterwards he recognizes bliss, once again the joy and satisfaction of those who have had an authentic faith. Elizabeth does not do an interrogation, but intelligently contemplates the great mystery of faith that lies ahead: God's salvation, who makes himself present before her in Mary. Elizabeth testifies that therefore faith in God is not theory, but concrete closeness. This healthy curiosity is a Christian virtue that we can all develop: it is a questioning of faith, to try to understand it and after being able to live better what we profess in the Creed. Faith in Jesus who comes this Christmas 2021 therefore it is not pure passivity but a harmonious exercise of our will, of our affection and also of our intelligence. The Irish writer Robert Wilson Lynd said:

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“If I were a philosopher, I should write a philosophy of toys, to show that Christmas Day in the company of children is one of the few occasions when men become fully alive!».

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We ask the Lord the grace of returning to have the joy and curiosity of a child, to welcome every day of our life with the simplicity of faith.

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Rome, 19 December 2021

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Staff Blog

Father Gabriele

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