The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Beatitude Pierbattista Pizzaballa, took some time out of his very busy schedule to be guest of honour in a joint Catholic News / Middle East Analysis podcast just before the First Sunday of Advent. You can listen to the full podcast here.
This excerpt from the full episode offers the Patriarch’s meditation on faith and hope through the lens of Advent and Christmas:
“The question of Advent is the question of John the Baptist. When he saw Jesus in the River Jordan, he said, ‘He is the Lamb of God. He is the One.’ But when he was in jail, he was perplexed as Jesus was not doing what he expected Him to do. He wanted someone strong to bring justice but He was not doing anything. He ate with sinners. So John asked ‘Are you the one we were expecting or should we wait for someone else?’ This was his question. What was Jesus’s answer? He told John to look at what was happening. The quotation from Isaiah – the blind are seeing, the prisoners are liberated, and so on.
“Jesus is coming and it’s up to us to have our hearts open to see the signs of His presence.”
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