When we look at the genealogy of Jesus, we see many people there who are described in the Old Testament as having done a lot of evil and were extremely sinful. Jesus’ opponents also accused Him of being a sinner – or at least of eating and drinking with sinners. In the Gospel of John, they even hinted that Jesus was born “of fornication”.

When John the Baptist was asked who he was, he answered with the words of the prophet Isaiah: „I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness.“ This expression – „the voice of one crying in the wilderness“ – has two almost opposite meanings. On the one hand, it indicates someone who is, as it were, in a completely hopeless situation. Either he is lost and cannot find the way to where he wants to go, and there is no one there to help him and show him the way, or he himself tries to lead the lost in the right direction, but no one listens to him.

Often, other people and even God are seen as stopgaps: we pay attention to them when we need them, and we act as if they exist only to benefit us. In a sense, this is natural: without God we would not exist, and without other people it would be difficult – if not completely impossible – for us to live. Even St. Augustine says: “For when I seek Thee, my God, I seek a happy life. I will seek Thee, that my soul may live. For my body lives by my soul; and my soul by Thee" and "Thou madest us for Thyself, and our heart is restless, until it rests in Thee".

Throughout history, people have been afraid of, and at the same time, waiting for the end of the world. It’s a kind of thrill mixed with fear, much like watching horror movies. Of course, next to the end of the world, horror movies are nothing: all you have to do is turn off the TV and switch on the light to make everything all right again. However, we can’t just turn off the end of the world.

On the first Sunday in Advent, the Gospel speaks of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. Since Advent is a time of preparation for Christmas, for celebrating the Nativity of Our Lord, the Church has considered it important to emphasize who is the Child whose birth we are waiting for: it is our Saviour who redeemed us by His suffering, death, and precious blood.