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Second Sunday of Advent – Repent!

Second Sunday of Advent

Repent … Prepare the way of the Lord

12/2/2016

Dear brothers and sisters, Fiat!

On the path towards Advent, John the Baptist helps us today: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord” (Mt 3:3). The Voice of one crying in the wilderness! It seems a discouraged statement. What’s the benefit of shouting in the desert? Yet John appears like this and does not become discouraged. In fact, he feels happy for the good he does and not by the answers he finds. Let’s apply to us this indication. We Christians are often a voice crying in the wilderness. Aren’t we? We would be tempted to say: What is for? But we do not need to worry about the results: instead, we should be concerned of being with Christ and living with Him. The Lord will do the rest in the heart of our brothers.

“Prepare the way of the Lord”. These words are full of wisdom and knowledge. We must prepare the way of the Lord, because God’s way is blocked, we filled it with obstacles: with our sin we have raised a wall between us and God. We must fill the chasms of vanity, of emptiness, of the ephemeral, that we all carry within us; We must turn down the mountains of arrogance, of pride, of self-sufficiency: “mountains” that everyone, unfortunately, knows well!  Only Then God will move and the meeting will happen: it will be a wonderful time, we will see really that the flowers come out from the sand. It’s difficult to describe the emotion of a deep conversion. The diaries of the converted people are bright pages that make you feel an overwhelming joy: they are stories that hold the emotion of the encounter with God. It is an experience that we too must do and can do. But how?

The Gospel of Matthew continues by showing the characteristics of John the Baptist: “John wore clothing made of camel’s hair and had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. ” John lives and proclaims what he lives: here is his greatness, here is the secret of its charm. John does not indicate only the right path.

He walks on the right path and invites others to walk with him. This is the Christian’s mission: to proclaim through the witnessing. One day Saint Theresa of Calcutta exclaimed: “Before we preach the Creed, let us ask ourselves whether we are credible.” And Gandhi watching the European Christians sadly commented: “If they lived the Gospel, I would be on their side.”

May we be contested by the lesson of John the Baptist. Today we are the voice of God: the Gospel, hope have been delivered to us; God delivered Himself to us: “As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” But are we an aid or an obstacle to God’s love? Are we an argument in favor of God or a veil that hides Him? In fact, what is John doing?

John is speaking clearly, he becomes severe especially with those who presume to be “religious” only through practices and traditions. John reminds everyone that religion is falsehood if it is not lived: in fact we are “religious”, ie Christians, only if we change our lives and bear fruits worthy of repentance.

We are justified before God not by what we say but by what we do .: God cannot be cheated, because God reads the heart. John reminds the Pharisees, the Sadducees and us that  God’s gifts are not privileges; they are a responsibility. The call for consistency is extremely current. Finally John stays aside. The purpose of his life is in leading to Christ and not in taking His place .

Looking at the figure of John the Baptist who prepared the way for Jesus the Redeemer, we can see Luisa as the one who prepared the way of the Kingdom of the Divine Will. It is the mission that Luisa received and that Jesus first prepared in her soul.

In the passage of October 22, 1926 Jesus himself explains to Luisa what He is working in her for the Kingdom of the Divine Will. Having to prepare the great miracle of the Kingdom of the Supreme Fiat, Jesus is doing with Luisa, firstborn daughter of the Divine Will, just as He did with His Most Holy Mother. When Jesus had to prepare the Kingdom of Redemption He drew Her so close to Himself, He kept Her so occupied in Her interior, as to be able to form together with Her the miracle of Redemption, for which there was such great need. There were so many things which, together, They were to do, to redo, to complete, that He had to hide from Her outward appearance anything which might be called miracle, except for Her perfect virtue.

By this, He rendered Her more free, so as to let Her cross the endless sea of the Eternal Fiat, that She might have access to the Divine Majesty in order to obtain the Kingdom of Redemption. What would be greater: that the Celestial Queen had given sight to the blind and speech to the mute, and so forth, or the miracle of making the Eternal Word descend upon earth?

The first would have been accidental, passing and individual miracles; the second, instead, is a permanent miracle – and it is for everyone, as long as they want it. Therefore, the first would have been as though nothing compared to the second.

Now, Jesus is doing the same with Luisa in order to prepare the Kingdom of the Supreme Fiat. He keeps her with Him, He makes her cross Its endless sea to give her access to the Celestial Father, that her may pray Him, conquer Him, have empire over Him, to obtain the Fiat of the Kingdom. And in order to fulfill and consummate in her all the miraculous power which is needed to form a Kingdom so holy, He keep her continuously occupied in her interior with the work of His Kingdom; He makes her go around continuously in order to redo – to complete everything that is needed, and that all should do, in order to form the great miracle of His Kingdom. Externally, He lets nothing miraculous appear, except for the light of God’s Will.

Everything that God does is hidden but its effects are in people’s lives. What was Jesus’ greatest miracle? His word, the Gospel He announced, or the fact that He gave life to the dead, sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf.? His word, His Gospel, was a greater miracle; more so, since the very miracles came out of His Word. The foundation, the substance of all miracles came out of His creative word. The Sacraments, Creation Itself, a permanent miracle, had life from His word; and the very Church has His Word, His Gospel, as regime and foundation.

God’s Word is like mighty wind that runs, pounds on the hearing, enters into the hearts, warms, purifies, illuminates, goes round and round from nation to nation; it covers the whole world, it wanders throughout all centuries. And if sometimes it seems that His word is silent and is as though hidden, it never loses its life.

When least expected, it comes out and goes around everywhere. Centuries will pass in which everything – men and things – will be overwhelmed and disappear, but God’s Word will never pass away, because it contains Life – the miraculous power of the One who issued it. Therefore, Jesus confirms to Luisa that each word and manifestation He makes to us about the Eternal Fiat is the greatest miracle, which will serve the Kingdom of the Divine Will.

Let’s ask the Lord for the ability ” to show” the Lord!

 

Don Marco

Permanent link to this article: https://bookofheaven.org/2016/12/04/7853/