The Second Sunday in Advent AD 2025

All Scripture proclaims Christ. This is the fundamental principle upon which the apostles and Christ himself interpreted the Scriptures. This principle is the basis of the Church’s teaching about God and our faith in Him, about sin and redemption, about the present age and eternity.

This is exactly what Saint Paul says in today's Epistle: “Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” Our hope is in Christ Jesus, who is the root of Jesse foretold by the prophet Isaiah and has brought salvation to both Jews and Gentiles.

Christ is the foundation on which our faith and salvation are built. We believe in Him, we confess His passion and death, we glorify His resurrection and ascension. We encounter Him in His Word and Sacraments, and we are members of His Body.

For Jesus Christ continues His presence in this world through His Holy Church. No one can become a Christian on their own, outside the Church, because the Church is the family of God. As an ancient saying goes: “No one can have God as a Father who does not have the Church as Mother.”

Christ came to redeem us and gather us as God’s people, His very family. He will come again to free us from everything that weighs us down and to give us eternal happiness: “Look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”