Don Bosco Philippines South Province

Homily on Saturday, 1st Week Advent, 6 December 2025, Lourdes Shrine, Cebu

As a Salesian one of the coolest place I’ve been to was in Don Bosco Retreat Center in Liesterfield. It is located just about 32 kms from Melbourne, Australia. I was there in November of 2013 to attend a regional meeting of Salesian formators. While the weather was erratic – imagine experiencing all four seasons in just one week, nevertheless the nature around the house was awesomely beautiful, tranquil, and vibrant. It was a haven close to perfection with trees towering high, green meadows covered with colourful flowers, vast fields of corn plantation as well as grazing ground for hundreds of cows, sheep, and alpaca. What amazed me most were actually the slopes beyond the fields spotted with wild kangaroos feeding in great numbers. For me everything there was like a piece of paradise on earth.

Today as we conclude the first week of Advent we continue to listen and meditate on God’s Word to guide us in our preparation for the coming of the Lord. This past week we have been listening to Isaiah’s visions and prophecies about the messianic times, aimed at rekindling our hope for better times to come amidst all these trials of natural calamities and government corruption.

The passage we have heard today continues to enliven and strengthen our hope. It is about Isaiah’s vision of a new world where life abounds, tranquillity pervades and peace reigns; a world where all weeping will finally end, for the Lord will graciously provide for the needs of all his people, with no one being left out. Allow me to quote for you his encouraging words filled with hope. He said…

“He will give rain for the seed that you sow in the ground, and the wheat that the soil produces will be rich and abundant. On that day your flock will be given pasture and the lamb will graze in spacious meadows; the oxen and the asses that till the ground will eat silage tossed to them with shovel and pitchfork. Upon every high mountain and lofty hill there will be streams of running water.” Can you imagine that? Isn’t it a wonderful picture of what heaven might truly be once we get there; on that very day when the long-awaited Messiah comes?

The good news is this: that prophetic message had started to be fulfilled 2,025 years ago, when Jesus came down from heaven and was born in Bethlehem as the Savior of the world. Just listen to what the gospel says about Jesus whose birth we will celebrate this coming Christmas – he is the great healer who cures every illness and disease. And he gives authority to his followers to do the same, that is, to preach and to heal so that all suffering and weeping may finally end.

Today while many people continue to suffer and die in disasters, depression and despair, we feel the need more and more for the Spirit-filled Savior to come again, and to be born amongst us year after year, week-after-week, and day after day, right in the very heart of every person living in this world. This is what Advent is all about. While it is a period of prayerful waiting and watchful vigilance, it also the right time to make things happen, to bring God’s plan to fulfilment, to see to it that Isaiah’s vision and dream become a reality…

In fact, Pope Leo’s recent visit to Turkey and Lebanon has rekindled humanity’s hope beyond expectation. On a personal note I have been moved by almost all the short videos and footages I have seen on social media – such as. the awesome welcome he received from thousands of peoples in both nations; his visit to the Blue Mosque in Istanbul during which he showed remarkable respect for Islam but, at the same time, a strong conviction for his own faith; his impressive meeting with Patriarch Bartholomew of the Orthodox Church, leading to a joint profession of the Nicene Creed publicly without the disputed phrase “filioque”; his fatherly response to the tear-jerking testimony given by a Filipina migrant worker in Lebanon; and finally, the concluding Mass he celebrated in Beirut before a multitude of 150,000 Catholics… We can really say that Pope Leo XIV is “Jesus-with-us” today bringing us hope, peace and salvation.

Let us, therefore, allow Jesus to be born in us… not only on Christmas day, but also every time we receive Holy Communion, and every time we do good or say a kind word to someone in need.

As we celebrate this Advent Mass in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Immaculate Mother, may this Eucharist truly inspire us and prepare us for Jesus’ birth, so that through us, the Savior may also be born in the hearts of people we meet, thus making this world a better place, a piece of paradise on earth.

May our Bl Mother keep us always safe physically and spiritually under the mantle of her powerful protection and inspire us to by her courageous YES to God’s call to become the instrument for the Savior to be born. GiGsss!

Disclaimer: This section of the website is a personal creative writing of the author and does not necessarily reflect the official views, opinion, or policies of the Salesians of Don Bosco – Philippines South Province. For concerns on the content, style, and grammar of this piece, please contact us.