The Unspoken Question of the Heart
Michiel Peeters - Today, on the second Sunday of Advent, we meet John the Baptist. Clothed in camel’s hair and subsisting on locusts and wild honey, he was a rugged figure preaching in the desert. He expressed himself plainly. To the Pharisees and Sadducees, he said: “You brood of vipers! ... Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance... Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” Yet, the fact that everyone came to listen and be baptized by him shows that his call to conversion resonated with them; it was felt as a correspondence, an answer to a perhaps unspoken question and desire.
I have often said that the Greek New Testament terms translated into English as “repentance” and “penance” are metanoiaand metanoiete. These do not primarily refer to specific actions, but to a change of mind—literally, “change your mindset.”
Today, the Church seeks to do exactly what John the Baptist did: prepare us for the coming of the Lord. For as St. Charles Borromeo said, “the Church asks us to understand that Christ, who came once in the flesh, is prepared to come again. When we remove all obstacles to his presence, he will come, at any hour and moment, to dwell … in our hearts, bringing with him the riches of his grace.” In her concern for our salvation, the Church uses this Advent season to teach us through hymns, canticles, and other forms of expression that “our hearts should be as much prepared for the coming of Christ as if he were still to come into this world.” This same lesson is given to us to imitate through the words and example of the holy men of the Old Testament, especially the prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah wrote centuries before Christ, but according to Blessed Columba Marmion, his prophecies are “so precise and so rich in detail that he may well be called the fifth evangelist. It is as if he wants to recount events that have already happened rather than predict future things.” How could Isaiah predict Christ so accurately? Certainly through divine inspiration, but also because of his deep humanity—for the human heart yearns for liberation.
Let us listen once more to Isaiah’s prophecy in today’s first reading: “On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse…. The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord, and his delight shall be the fear of the Lord. Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide, but he shall judge the poor with justice…. Justice shall be the band around his waist, and faithfulness a belt upon his hips. Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them. The cow and the bear shall be neighbors, together their young shall rest…. There shall be no harm or ruin…; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord.”
Each of us can verify whether Isaiah’s desire is also present in us. By taking that desire seriously, we can test whether what we have encountered—and Who is among us—responds to it and begins to answer it.
In this way, and only in this way, do we become convinced, joyful Christians who begin to change the world through our own transformed lives.
December 7, 2025 – 2nd Sunday of Advent (Year A) – Isa 11:1–10; Matt 3:1–12 (Homily by Fr. Michiel Peeters, Tilburg University Chaplaincy)
