Word to the Wise
Saturday, December 10, 2022 - 2nd Week of Advent - Sat
[Sir 48:1-4, 9-11 and Matt 17:9a, 10-13]How awesome are you, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds! Whose glory is equal to yours? You were destined, it is written, in time to come to put an end to wrath before the day of the Lord, to turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons and to re-establish the tribes of Jacob. Blessed is who shall have seen you and who falls asleep in your friendship. [Sirach] As they were coming down the mountain, the disciples asked Jesus, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" He said in reply, "Elijah will indeed come and restore all things; but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize hin but did to him whatever they pleased. So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands." Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist. [Matthew]
(This reflection is coming to you early because I must travel on Friday to Florida to give a retreat to Dominican Laity and a parish mission in Ocala, FL.)
Elijah stands like a giant in the Old Testament as the first prophet, at least in stature! There was a current of Jewish messianic thought that taught that Elijah would reappear as a sign of the coming of the Messiah. Jesus tells his disciples that John the Baptist was the personification of that hope and was rejected. The same would be true for himself at the hands of the closed minds of religious and political authorities.
What do WE expect of Jesus' coming, humble as it was in a stable in Bethlehem? Perhaps it is easier to ooh and ahh over a newborn "Baby Jesus" than it is to hear the teaching of the adult Jesus that challenges our hearts and minds? As all parents know, children grow up to adulthood and don't always meet the expectations of the parents or the broader family. What are we "planning" for Baby Jesus when he grows up? Consider Jesus' own warning today: "So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands." Elijah and John the Baptist and Jesus are interested in our response! AMEN