20221223 RESISTING THE COMING OF THE LORD
23 December, 2022, Friday, 4th Week of Advent
irst reading |
Malachi 3:1-4,23-24 © |
Before my day comes, I will send you Elijah my prophet
The Lord God says this: Look, I am going to send my messenger to prepare a way before me. And the Lord you are seeking will suddenly enter his Temple; and the angel of the covenant whom you are longing for, yes, he is coming, says the Lord of Hosts. Who will be able to resist the day of his coming? Who will remain standing when he appears? For he is like the refiner’s fire and the fullers’ alkali. He will take his seat as refiner and purifier; he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and then they will make the offering to the Lord as it should be made. The offering of Judah and Jerusalem will then be welcomed by the Lord as in former days, as in the years of old.
Know that I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before my day comes, that great and terrible day. He shall turn the hearts of fathers towards their children and the hearts of children towards their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a curse.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 24(25):4-5,8-9,10,14 © |
Stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand.
Lord, make me know your ways.
Lord, teach me your paths.
Make me walk in your truth, and teach me:
for you are God my saviour.
Stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand.
The Lord is good and upright.
He shows the path to those who stray,
He guides the humble in the right path,
He teaches his way to the poor.
Stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand.
His ways are faithfulness and love
for those who keep his covenant and law.
The Lord’s friendship is for those who revere him;
to them he reveals his covenant.
Stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand.
Gospel Acclamation |
Alleluia, alleluia!
King of the peoples
and cornerstone of the Church,
come and save man,
whom you made from the dust of the earth.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 1:57-66 © |
'His name is John'
The time came for Elizabeth to have her child, and she gave birth to a son; and when her neighbours and relations heard that the Lord had shown her so great a kindness, they shared her joy.
Now on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother spoke up. ‘No,’ she said ‘he is to be called John.’ They said to her, ‘But no one in your family has that name’, and made signs to his father to find out what he wanted him called. The father asked for a writing-tablet and wrote, ‘His name is John.’ And they were all astonished. At that instant his power of speech returned and he spoke and praised God. All their neighbours were filled with awe and the whole affair was talked about throughout the hill country of Judaea. All those who heard of it treasured it in their hearts. ‘What will this child turn out to be?’ they wondered. And indeed the hand of the Lord was with him.
RESISTING THE COMING OF THE LORD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Malachi 3:1-4,23-24; Luke 1:57-66]
Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. We will be celebrating the first coming of the Lord as man on Christmas day. The question is: Are you prepared to welcome Him into your heart and your life? Is there room in your inn? How sad will it be on Christmas day when the Lord comes and finds Himself unwelcome in your heart! Indeed, how sad if the Lord were to say these words to you, “He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.” (Jn 1:10f) And like the townsfolk who rejected Jesus at Nazareth, we read, “And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief.” (Mk 6:5f)
However, if our hearts are open to receive Him, great things will happen. As the prophet Malachi said, “he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and then they will make the offering to the Lord as it should be made. The offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be welcomed by the Lord as in former days, as in the days of old. Know that I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before my day comes, that great and terrible day. He shall turn the hearts of fathers towards their children and the hearts of children towards their fathers.” Most of all, St John wrote, “But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.” This is great news indeed! To those who welcome the Lord, they will be given power to be children of God, sharing in His life and love.
The gospel tells us that God is gracious. He has sent John the Baptist to prepare the way for the Lord to enter into our lives. When John the Baptist was born, their parents insisted that instead of following the customary manner of naming the child after his father, they named him, “John” which means that God is benevolent. Elizabeth and Zechariah had experienced the graciousness of God in giving them the gift of a child in their old age. No one expected the old couple to give birth to a child. It was impossible and unthinkable because they were no longer fertile. They symbolized the barrenness of the faith of Israel.
Indeed, prophecy was silent after the last prophet of the Old Testament, Malachi. The Word of God was silent. After the return of Israel from Babylonian captivity, and the temple had been rebuilt and both the law and the priesthood were restored, yet the Jews were still not repentant. They did not give up their worship of idols and were marrying pagans, not giving tithes to the Temple. They were still far from God.
We are like Zechariah who had a routine faith. He was a priest and offered sacrifice to God at the Temple but he himself lacked faith. It was just a routine service but faith was not present. We too can be going to church regularly, say our prayers and even do some good works. But many of us do all these things as a matter of routine. An active and intentional faith in God is lacking. Hence, in our trials, disappointments, failures and frustrations, when doing good, we become disillusioned and lose hope. This is because what we do does not come from faith in God. Only faith in God will keep us going and sustain our hope and charity.
It was not until 400 years later, with the birth of John the Baptist, that God’s Word began to resound again. The breaking of the silence of Zechariah upon the birth of his son, John the Baptist, signified a new beginning of grace. That was why John was named as such because God was gracious not only in giving a son to Elizabeth and Zechariah but in giving John to the nation. For John was a gift from God to Israel. He was sent to prepare the way for the Lord through repentance and forgiveness of sins. But it would be the Messiah who would give them the Holy Spirit. He said, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Mt 3:11)
We, too, will not experience the coming of the Lord into our hearts and the outpouring of His Spirit, making us His children, if we do not repent of our sins and purify our hearts to welcome Him. This is because sin and God are incompatible. We cannot be at peace if we cannot accept His will in our lives. We cannot find rest in our souls if we are breaking His commandments. There can be no peace if we are not reconciled with our brothers and sisters. There can be no joy if we do not give ourselves to others, especially those who need our help. This was what the prophet Malachi said, “And the Lord you are seeking will suddenly enter his Temple; and the angel of the covenant whom you are longing for, yes, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. Who will be able to resist the day of his coming? Who will remain standing when he appears? For his is like the refiner’s fire and the fullers’ alkali. He will take his sear as the refiner and the purifier.” If we want to meet the Lord, we need to be purified. If we just continue our old way of life, like the Jews who returned from Babylon, we will not encounter Him and His Spirit will not be poured into our hearts.
So how can we break out of our prison walls that separate us from God and our fellowmen? We need silence and solitude so that we can listen to the voice of God. Zechariah, because of his lack of faith in the angel’s message, was struck deaf and dumb for nine months until the birth of John the Baptist. When he saw the graciousness of God, instead of believing in the message, he doubted. Because of that, he needed the time to reflect the goodness of God, His power and graciousness. Most of all, to have faith in Him that there is nothing He could not do. This requires that we set aside time to be with Him so that He can speak to us in the silence of our hearts. But if we are busy getting things done, doing this and that project, shopping for gifts, etc, then we will only make Christmas a burdensome time of merry-making and fun but we will lack that interior peace and joy in our hearts.
Today, we are called to recognize the graciousness of God in our lives. God has already come to us in many ways. When we open our ears and our eyes, then we will see Him in our lives, through people who come to help us, visit us, offer us a word of encouragement, and show us the face and mercy of God. God is always gracious and He wants to do more for us if we have expectant faith. Indeed, the people recognized the goodness of God. “The time came for Elizabeth to have her child and she gave birth to a son; and when her neighbours and relations heard that the Lord had shown her so great a kindness, they shared her joy.”
We must therefore welcome the Lord by praising Him. We read in the gospel that Zechariah’s “power of speech returned and he spoke and praised God. All their neighbours were filled with awe and the whole affair was talked about throughout the hill country of Judaea. All those who heard of it treasured it in their hearts. ‘What will this child turn out to be?’ they wondered. And indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him.” When we praise God, He will work wonders in our lives. Just like the people when they saw the goodness of God at work in giving Zechariah back his speech and a son, they were filled with awe. We, too, if only we spend time recounting the many wonderful blessings we have received in life, we will be filled with awe at how the Lord has taken care of us all these years in spite of our infidelity to Him. God is a gracious God. This is what scripture always proclaims. Moses declared, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation.” (Ex 34:6)
But we must also praise Him with our lives. We, too, must become a gift to others like John the Baptist. We must make ourselves a prophet of God to give light to those in darkness and walk in the shadow of death. Living in holiness and righteousness, we must serve the Lord like John the Baptist by leading people to walk in truth and love, come to know God’s salvation and His forgiveness so that they will walk the way of peace and joy.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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