Pope at Angelus: Strive to become credible voices who testify to the coming of Jesus

By Linda Bordoni

Taking inspiration from the Gospel reading on this second Sunday of Advent, Pope Francis drew attention to the figure of John the Baptist and described him as “the voice of one crying in the desert.”

At the Angelus, the Pope reflected on the seemingly contradictory images of “the voice, a means to speak” and “the desert, an empty place where you do not communicate.”

“They are joined by John the Baptist,” he said, explaining the meaning of the desert in the Apostle's preaching.
 

From his position near the Jordan River, symbolically close to where his people entered the promised land many centuries earlier, the desert from where John the Baptist preaches is a place of silence and essentials “where someone cannot afford to dwell on useless things but needs to concentrate on what it is indispensable to live.”

This, Pope Francis said, “is an always relevant reminder: to proceed on the journey of life, we need to be stripped of the more because to live well does not mean being filled with useless things, but being freed from the superfluous, to dig deeply within ourselves so as to hold on to what is truly important before God.”

Silence and sobriety, the Pope added, be it in words, the use of material possessions, or engagement with media, should be integral elements in the life of the Christian.

The voice of authenticity

Focussing on the second image  - the voice - Pope Francis highlighted its connection to silence, “because it expresses what matures inside, from listening to what the Spirit suggests.”

“If someone does not know how to be quiet, it is unlikely they will have something good to say; while, the more attentive the silence, the stronger the word,” he said.

What place does silence have in my days?

Finally, the Pope suggested we ask ourselves: “What place does silence have in my days?”

“Is it an empty, perhaps oppressive, silence? Or is it a space for listening, for prayer, for guarding my heart? Is my life sober or filled with superfluous things?” he said.

Even if it means going against the tide, he concluded, “Let us value silence, sobriety and listening.”