Following is the text of the meditation by His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, on the III Sunday of Advent A, dated December 14, 2025:

 

The first fruit of the coming of the Kingdom is the arising of a question in those who await it.

 

Not an answer, not a certainty, but open questions, which are paths to be travelled.

 

The question arises in those who go down to the Jordan to be baptized, and who, faced with John's preaching, wonder what they should do (Lk 3:10). The question arises in the heart of John himself, who marvels at seeing how the Messiah presents himself in history, radically upsetting his expectations.

 

We hear John's first question at the moment of Jesus’s Baptism, when with perplexity, he addresses Jesus saying: “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?” (Matthew 3:14)

 

A second question is found in today's Gospel, (Mtatthew11:2-11) when the Baptist, imprisoned, sends his disciples to Jesus to ask him if he is truly the One they were expecting, or if they should wait for another. (Matthew 3:3)

 

Let us pause for a moment on this question, because in this Advent season, when we are asked to prepare the way for the Lord who is coming, the first step is precisely to ask ourselves the right questions.

 

The question is precisely what makes something new possible, a journey. It is not enough to bring about change, but it prepares for it. Then other steps are needed: choice, will and perseverance. But the first step is to ask the question.

 

John’s question is born from the gap between what he expected and the ways of Jesus, about whom he hears while confined in prison. He does not ask, “Who are you?” in an abstract sense, but rather concretely whether Jesus is truly the One awaited, the Messiah who inaugurates the Kingdom. John had preached about a powerful Messiah who would bring judgment and justice. Now he finds himself in prison, and there seems to be a discrepancy: Jesus does not meet John's expectations.

 

Jesus welcomes and understands this doubt. He does not respond directly, neither does he affirm or deny. Instead, he provides a guide, that is, a path to follow to learn how to recognize the way He acts in history. is way of acting in history.

 

The method brings together two verbs, two aspects of the life of faith: hearing and seeing.
Jesus responds to the messengers sent by the Baptist by asking them to report to John what they hear and what they see: “Go and tell John what you hear and see”. (Matthew 11:4)

 

If we stop at what we see, then we risk being offended, because the works that Jesus performs are not sensational or revolutionary: He does not destroy the wicked, He does not eliminate suffering, and in the end He Himself will be unjustly condemned and crucified. Indeed, according to the expectations of John the Baptist, Jesus performs deeds that are unexpected for a ‘Master’ or of someone sent by God: He sits with sinners, plays with children, speaks with women…in short, not exactly what one would expect from someone who hold “winnowing fan is in his hand,” who will “clear his threshing floor,” and “burn the chaff with unquenchable fire”. (Matthew 3:12)

 

Jesus speaks precisely of this offense in verse 6: “Blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”

 

Therefore, to not be offended, it is not enough to see, but one must also listen. In His response, Jesus invites John the Baptist to reconsider the works He has accomplished, and at the same time to listen to the Scriptures: “The blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.” (Matthew 11:5)

 

We must listen to the Scriptures to understand God’s way of acting, His way of loving. In fact, the words with which Jesus refers to His works are the words of the prophet Isaiah about the ministry of the Servant of God. This is how, and in no other way, does the awaited one come, and through Him God comes to humanity.

 

Jesus invites the Baptist to let go of his reservations and preconceptions, his own images and expectations, and to trust in God. Only in this way will our eyes and ears be opened to a real understanding of God.

 

In the end, it is the Baptist who is questioned, and no longer Jesus. He tells the Baptist to reread and reread, to allow himself to be continually questioned.

 

+Pierbattista