“He is coming to save you”, exclaims Isaiah; and the Gospel shows us the signs of the salvation that Jesus works, which must confirm both John and us in faith in the Coming. Even John doubts Jesus, whose way of acting surprises him: the one who has been sent to arouse the expectation of others must allow his manner of waiting to be changed. The experience of God it always works out this way: we can only nurture our waiting for him by starting from our way of imagining his face; but then, in the encounter with him, we must be open to the idea of purifying our gaze so that we base our way of knowing his mystery on the words and signs with which he reveals himself. Moreover, in Matthew we hear today the very testimony that Jesus gives to his prophet: John is more than a prophet! This too is a necessary condition for the encounter with the Coming: before we know it, we must have the experience of being known by him. We see here the foundation of that joy that we celebrate on this Sunday “Gaudete”. We can rejoice because, despite all the hesitations of our faith, the Lord knows us, understands us, purifies us. James invites us to make our expectation constant and persevering. But it is rather the Lord himself who perseveres in waiting for the full maturation of our faith.

Commentary by Comunità di Dumenza

Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves, Prinknash Abbey