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With Advent, we find ourselves once again on the road to Bethlehem. It is natural to ask ourselves: haven't we already been to Bethlehem? Is it really necessary to make this journey again? Yes, it is necessary: indeed, it is urgent! Because we have all already been to Bethlehem, but then we strayed and forgot—unfortunately!—the great lesson that Jesus gave us in Bethlehem. And we can clearly see how far away we are. The violence that is rampant everywhere (even in the Shrine of Love that every family should be), entertainment that has become numbing, indifference that makes us hard and closed to the suffering of others, the inability to reach out a hand even to wipe away a tear... these are signs that we have turned our backs on Bethlehem.
We all need to take a new step towards Jesus. Let us not wait for others to change: let us always take the first step ourselves. How? The first sign comes to us from the prophet Isaiah who, with the penetrating gaze of a man of God, sees the mountain of the Lord higher than all other mountains. That is, he sees an era approaching in which men will truly open their hearts to God, and the immediate fruit of this will be peace. In fact, the prophet Isaiah says: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” Is this a dream? Is it a pious illusion? Humanly speaking, it seems to us that history is moving in a direction completely opposite to Isaiah's dream. But faith assures us that, despite the upheavals of wickedness, despite the resurgence of evil, history is moving toward a new Heaven and a new Earth. And the reason is this: God has entered our history (this is the meaning of Christmas!), and God is pushing humanity toward the horizon of liberation from evil. This certainty is an inseparable part of our faith: in Advent, we must recover this unshakeable hope in order to rediscover the optimism that is part of every true Christian's baggage. But while we wait, what should we do? Jesus answers us and says: “Watch! Be ready, because at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” Jesus invites us to live in this world with the attitude of a pilgrim, who always looks in the direction of the goal.
I will never forget Mother Teresa's response as she waited at the foot of the steps of the Church of St. Gregory on the Celio for a colleague who was to accompany her to St. Peter's. A stranger passed by, recognized Mother Teresa, approached her, and asked, “Mother, what are you waiting for?” Without hesitation, Mother Teresa replied, “I am waiting for Heaven, my son!” I can still see the amazement on that stranger's face. I think he will never forget that answer, just as I cannot forget it. It is the answer we should all have ready in our hearts and on our lips. St. Paul adds: “Not in revelry and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and licentiousness”... you will find happiness! How relevant these words are today! The early Christians were surrounded by a world as corrupt as today's, a world where sexuality had gone wild in capriciousness and depraved orgies, just as it is today. In fact, when Christianity entered the world, the use of the body without true love, without a life plan, without the light of fidelity, dominated.
Well, St. Paul tells us what he told the Christians of his time: "Orgy, vulgarity... is not our way. We Christians must be a new people, a different society, a leaven of authentic renewal in the world. We must bring true love and true freedom back into the world by following the way of the Gospel without fear and without uncertainty: the way of Jesus.“ We often say: ”May the light of Your Face shine upon us, O Lord!" St. Paul concludes: “You must not live in strife and jealousy.” Immorality leads to violence, because immorality throws people into the mud. And when you are in the mud, you inevitably lose all dignity and the way is open to all kinds of violence: as is happening now! In the darkness of this world, we know that there is only one light: Jesus! Let us go to meet him with the humility and simplicity of the shepherds, reliving Christmas as an opportunity to rediscover the pace of the pilgrim who does not burden himself with useless weights, because his heart is totally focused on the goal that is closer than we can imagine. Let us not waste the time that God's mercy still gives us: let us prepare our hearts to live a true Christmas.
Let us not miss the opportunities God gives us. Have a good journey through Advent.
Praised be Jesus Christ.
— Cardinal Angelo Comastri
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