Word to the Wise
Saturday, December 14, 2024 - 2nd Week of Advent - Sat
[Sir 48:1-4, 9-11 and Matt 17:9a, 10-13]In those days, like a fire there appeared the prophet Elijah whose words were as a flaming furnace....You were destined, as 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 he who shall have seen you and who falls asleep in your friendship. [Sirach] "Elijah will indeed come and restore all things; but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him 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]
DECEMBER 14, 2024 ST. jOHN OF THE CROSS, ocd
Messianic expectations in Jesus' time were varied, and different charismatic figures would appear from time to time, giving different hopes! Some of the expectations centered on the prophecy of Malachi 3:23: "Now I am sending to you Elijah the prophet, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and terrible day; he will turn the heart of fathers to their sons, and the heart of sons to their fathers......." The gospel passage today from the Gospel According to Matthew is taken from the reaction of the disciples to the event of the transfiguration of Jesus, in which Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus and converse with him. Jesus applies the prophecy of Malachi to John the Baptist, and points out that he [Jesus] would suffer the same fate as John.
What are our own expectations in this season of Advent? Do we have any that relate to Advent at all? Or are they more related to the "holiday season?" Is the display of the nativity scene a matter of habit/duty without any other impact than that?Could there be the possibility of some kind of reconciliation that Malachi and Sirach foretell? As the gospel passage points out today, Jesus and John the Baptist were contrasting figures but were both rejected. What would it take to please us nowadays and renew our Advent faith? AMEN