We continue to walk this time of Advent, a path that invites us to wake up, open up and let ourselves be transformed. If the first Sunday called us to awaken to hope, today the Word reminds us that this hope grows and is sustained when we welcome one another, when we allow the Spirit to make us more fraternal, more united, more body, more family.
We welcome the Word
Siblings:
Everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that through our patience and the comfort of the Scriptures we may have hope.
May the God of patience and consolation grant you to have the same sentiments among yourselves, according to Christ Jesus; thus, with one accord, with one voice, you will glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ welcomed you for the glory of God.
That is to say, Christ became the servant of the circumcision in attention to God’s faithfulness, to bring to fulfillment the promises made to the patriarchs and, as for the Gentiles, that they might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written:
“For this reason I will praise you among the Gentiles and sing to your name”. (Rm. 15, 4-9)
St. Paul reminds us that hope does not stand alone: it is nourished by patience, mutual consolation, union, enlightening Scripture and fraternal acceptance.
Advent, then, invites us to look at how we relate, how we build communion, how we allow Christ to unify our feelings and steps.
Determination illuminates our path
“It is urgent to strengthen communication at all levels to make it more inclusive, to strengthen fraternal bonds, the union of souls and the sense of belonging to a body in mission”. (GC XIX Determination n. 14)
This call resonates deeply with the Word of the second reading of this Sunday: welcome one another.
Communication-when it is true, sincere, inclusive-becomes a place where welcome becomes visible and concrete.
Communicating is not only transmitting information: it is creating bonds, breaking distances, strengthening the “we”, favoring the transparency that leads to trust, cultivating the fraternity that makes our witness credible.
In this Advent, strengthening communication is a concrete way to “prepare the way of the Lord”.
Resonates in our lives
Advent always orients us towards a God who draws near, who makes himself small in order to unite, to gather, to reconcile.
What can you do to grow in communion through communication?
May this Advent find us building bonds that speak of God, animated by hope and moved by the desire to live more united.
