Video location: Grotto of the birth of St. John the Baptist Presentation: Br ULISE ZARZA, ofm Dear brothers and sisters, may the Lord give you his peace. Let us continue our journey, in this Advent season and prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord. This Advent season means for us to embark on a journey of conversion, of preparation, to welcome the coming Lord. We are here in the Grotto of the birth of John the Baptist, one of the most important characters of this time leading up to Christmas. He is presented as the "voice of one crying out in the wilderness: prepare the way for the Lord." But what does a voice crying out in the wilderness mean and especially how can we prepare a way for the coming Lord? In this sense Origen can help us. A third-century Church father, Origen lived here in the Holy Land, visited some holy places and then settled permanently in Caesarea where he devoted himself to studying Scripture. He can help us to comment on the Word of God, can help us to understand the figure of John the Baptist, and to live this Advent season. For Origen, the voice represents John, while the word represents Jesus. First, Origen says, the voice comes to the ears and after the voice, or rather, along with the voice, comes the word. In this sense John proclaims Jesus. For Origen, John represents the voice, while Jesus is the Word, which comes along with this announcement, this voice. At this point in our journey, we can make remembrance of all those who have been the voice in our lives and have brought us the word of the Lord , that is, who have made the Lord Jesus known to us through proclamation. But we must also renew in ourselves the commitment as baptized to proclaim, to become missionaries and bring the Lord to all those who do not know him. This voice, Origen continues, resounds in the desert of our lives and says: prepare the way for the Lord. But what way shall we prepare for the Lord? It is certainly not a material way, Origen says, but we must prepare a way in the inner self. Arrange in our hearts straight and leveled paths. "It is through this way," says the Alexandrian Master "that the Word of God entered, taking its place in the human heart capable of receiving it." This is the teaching Origen leaves us with by commenting on the Gospel of Luke. He then goes on to say that the hearts of men are large, spacious and capable of receiving the Word, but that men must also strive for their hearts to be clean. So they must prepare the way for the Lord, straightening the paths so that the Word and Wisdom of God may walk in it. Here in this way Origen teaches us to prepare ourselves to receive the Lord. Then, at some point, the Adamantine exhorts us to have behavior worthy of the Lord, to devote ourselves to good works, so that the Word of God may dwell in us, giving us also the knowledge of his Mysteries and of his coming. Further on Origen asks: what good is it that Christ came in the flesh if he did not come in your soul? What good is it that the Lord was born two thousand years ago if now He is not born, does not live in you, in your heart, in your life? We ask for Him to come, Origen says, every day to us so that we can say like Paul "it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me." So for Origen, conversion is above all making room for the Lord Jesus in our hearts and in our lives, assimilating, living our lives with Him and in Him. So this Advent season involves this preparation, this making room for the Lord in our lives, this conversion. And we do this especially by listening to his Word, by listening to the voice of those who speak to us and who proclaim the Lord to us. And this is what Origen teaches us in this time of Advent. So in this Advent season with the Church we wait for the Lord and say, Maranatha, come, Lord Jesus.