19 December 2025, Friday of the 3rd week of Advent
Homily
In the first two chapters of his Gospel, Luke tells parallel stories about John the Baptist and Jesus. John the Baptist's circumcision, with the song of Zechariah, parallels that of Jesus, with the song of Simeon; John grows up and withdraws into the desert, just as Jesus grows up and also withdraws into the desert for forty days; and so on.