Is 40:1-5.9-11; Ps 103 (104); Tit 2:11-14; 3,4-7; Lk 3:15-16.21-22

Jesus, the only just, the only saint, immerses himself in the fraternity of sinners, receiving their own baptism of penance, to share with us his experience as a Son, beloved by the Father. “Water that regenerates and renews in the Holy Spirit”, as Paul defines baptism by writing to Titus, enables us to listen to the words of the Father as addressed to each one of us. Also to us God gives his Spirit, which is the Spirit of the Son, and confirms his love of predilection and his pleasure in us. But there is a condition to accept this gift: wait, as today we are reminded in all the readings. Isaiah invites us to wait for the revelation of the glory of the Lord; St. Paul urges us to live in expectation of blessed hope; the testimony of the Baptist allows the people to remain on hold. To wait means to get out of oneself and of one’s certainties, of one’s own presumption to be sufficient to oneself, to tend to, tend towards another who comes to console our tears, to make ourselves heirs of eternal life, to fill us with his Spirit so that we too together with him we can listen to God’s great promise: you are the son, you are the daughter of my love.

Commentary by Comunità di Dumenza

Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves, Prinknash Abbey