The word of God came to John

Bar 5,1-9; Ps 125,1-6; Phil 1,4-6.8-11; Lk 3,1-6.
9 DECEMBER

Since man exists on earth, even before the sin of disobedience of Eve and Adam, the Lord has always manifested to man his will by means of the Word. It is from the gift of the Word that history changes and is transformed. The serpent hears the Word of the Lord and knows that one day his head will be crushed. Noah listens to the Word and knows that he will have to build an ark for the salvation of the lives of men and animals on earth. Abraham hears the Word and leaves his land. It is the Word that tells him that in his descendants all the tribes and nations of the world will be blessed. In search of a safe haven, Jacob knows, by listening to the Word, that God will be with him and that will make him return to the land of Canaan. To Joseph the Lord speaks through some dreams full of mystery. With Moses, God speaks face to face as one man talks to another man. We know that Samuel did not make any Word of the Lord be unfulfilled. All prophets are a voice given to the Word of God so that it might resound in the midst of his people. Where there is no Word, history remains motionless; it does not change.

John the Baptist is the greatest among all those born of women. Not only is he full of the Holy Spirit from the mother’s womb. Not only does the Spirit of the Lord always lead and guide him. He begins his mission when the Word of God comes to him. The Word comes down, the mission begins. Where there is no Word that comes down there is no mission. The mission is nothing but the gift of the Word of God. He gives the Word of God the one to whom God gives his Word. Instead, a substantial change takes place with Jesus, because the Person of Jesus is substantially different from every other person. Jesus in his Person and divine nature is God. The Father handed himself over to him in everything. He placed everything in his heart: the Word to say and the works to be done. Jesus does not say and does not work in an autonomous way, but always living in the perfect communion of the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit who always makes him say the Word of the Father and it is He who moves him to do the works of God. The Word does not descend on Jesus, because He is the Word. Although He is the Word, it must always be uttered according to the intelligence, the truth, the knowledge, the science and the counsel of the Holy Spirit. Everything in the Trinity takes place in the communion of the Holy Spirit and all in the incarnate Person of Jesus.

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert. He went throughout (the) whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one crying out in the desert: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'”

Disciples are not Word, there is no substantial and essential identification with the Word in them. While the ancient prophets receive the Word from God, the disciples must always receive it from Christ Jesus. But this is not enough. They must always live and proclaim it in the perfect communion of the Holy Spirit. This is why it is necessary to be true body of Christ, because it is in the body of Christ the Lord that everything happens and takes place. As soon as the disciple with sin comes out of the body of Christ, he loses at once the living contact with the Word and with the Spirit of the Lord. We move from living and working according to the Word of Christ Jesus to a purely and simply human acting. One speaks from his heart, he acts according to his will and speaks from his own mouth. He is no longer the voice of Christ, but his own voice. No longer the heart of Christ, but the personal heart. No longer ministers of Christ, but ministers of themselves. Out of the body of Christ one is no longer a missionary of Christ and no one can be invited to prepare the way for the Lord. On the other hand it would be impossible for someone who is outside Christ, without communion with the Holy Spirit, to indicate Christ as his Salvation and Life.

Mother of God, Angels and Saints, help us so that we live in perfect communion with Christ.