December 2025 (4-6 December)
With December we find ourselves again in Advent, the time of year of the great expectation for the coming of the Lord. Among the many figures we are called to consider during this time, one of them is a great inspiration for our monthy triduum, namely St John the Baptist. This extraordinary saint, the last and greatest of all the prophets, the greatest of those born of woman as Our Lord Himself tells us, appears to us at the beginning of the Gospels as one who leads a very penitential life in the desert, getting by with the bare minimum, ever intent on one thing, and one thing only: the coming of the Messiah.
Before preparing the crowds, he prepares himself. How does he do this? He goes out into the desert, a place of solitude and silence, a place of hardship in which he barely finds what he needs to survive (he ate locusts and wild honey, that’s it!). Why does he does this? Because he knows that the gifts of God need to be prepared for. Just as we prepare the soil of our garden by digging it up, breaking the clogs of earth, pulling out the weeds, putting in manure, so we must prepare our souls for God’s visit by uprooting our vices, breaking our bad habits, making room for the beneficent influence of what will lead us to a deeper appreciation of the gift that God wants to give. One of the principal reasons for which people do not profit from God’s visits is that they do not prepare by mortifying themselves, giving up things they like, putting others first, and spending substantial time in prayer. Doing these things is the only way to be ready for the wonderful gift that God is to give.
And what is that gift? It is Himself! As the 17th centenary celebrations of the Council of Nicaea remind us, the gift God gave us in Jesus is none other than God Himself. Jesus, the Babe whose birth we await at Christmas, is not some great moral teacher, some inspired guru who makes people feel good about themselves and inspires them to be nice to each other. This is true for the founders of all other religions. The founder of Christianity is God Himself come in our flesh. He loved us so much that He took a body like ours, in order to live among us, to suffer with and for us and show us the way to Heaven.
Such is the great mystery of Christmas, which Advent prepares us for. So let’s make sure that not just during these three days, but all the way up to 25 December, we learn how to give up things, to embrace the daily cross, to sacrifice ourselves, to be empty of all creatures. If we do, the Infant God will fill us with treasures of inestimable value. Don’t miss out!