When we respond to God’s nearness, his light shines into our darkness, bringing hope, healing, and new life.

The title, Lamb of God, also calls to mind the Passover lamb whose blood protected the houses of the Israelites when they left Egypt. The Israelites smeared their doorposts with the blood of the slain lamb and the angel of death passed over their houses. Jesus is the true Lamb of God who can deliver us from spiritual death

Through baptism, we are adopted as children of God and called to share in Christ’s mission, bearing the mark of belonging to him and living in relationship with him.

At the heart of Christmas is this truth: God has moved into our lives, entering quietly and humbly, out of love for us and for our salvation.

The Holy Family is a model for us as we face the tensions and crises that threaten family life today, inviting us to make our families places of forgiveness, understanding, and unconditional love.

Jesus really is the answer to life’s most challenging questions. Jesus answers who we are, why we are, the meaning and purpose of our existence, the fulfilment of our deepest longings and desires. He is the remedy for our woundedness and spiritual sickness. Only Jesus Christ can break the enslaving chains of sin. He alone can speak peace to the human heart, strengthen the weak, and give life to those who are spiritually dead.

This Sunday we are told that the most appropriate Advent response, the most significant way to prepare for the coming of Jesus, is through repentance.

Advent calls us to prepare ourselves spiritually for the coming of Jesus. We called to make a fresh beginning with renewed energy and enthusiasm.

Get your heart and your soul into gear. Get back to basics. Focus on what is essential. Live the way God intends and wants you to live.

Now at the conclusion of the year, we are called to proclaim with our lives that Christ is King.

He waits for us to come home to him. He receives us, his prodigal children, now contrite and humble, with an embrace. In that embrace we start to tell him our story, and he begins that process of healing and preparation needed for us to experience Heaven.

The Lateran Basilica, our physical parish church here, and all places of worship are immensely important because they are sacramental spaces. They are dedicated, set-apart spaces where the Body of Christ gathers. We physically assemble to express the truth that the Church is the assembly of the baptized, the people called out by God.