Lo, I Am Sending My Messenger To Prepare The Way Before Me.

December 23, 2009
Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Advent

Reading 1              Malachi 3:1-4, 23-24

Thus says the Lord GOD:
Lo, I am sending my messenger
to prepare the way before me;
And suddenly there will come to the temple
the LORD whom you seek,
And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire.
Yes, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.
But who will endure the day of his coming?
And who can stand when he appears?
For he is like the refiner’s fire,
or like the fuller’s lye.
He will sit refining and purifying silver,
and he will purify the sons of Levi,
Refining them like gold or like silver
that they may offer due sacrifice to the LORD.
Then the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem
will please the LORD,
as in the days of old, as in years gone by.
Lo, I will send you
Elijah, the prophet,
Before the day of the LORD comes,
the great and terrible day,
To turn the hearts of the fathers to their children,
and the hearts of the children to their fathers,
Lest I come and strike
the land with doom.

Responsorial          Psalm 25

R. Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
R. Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.
Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
he teaches the humble his way.
R. Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.
All the paths of the LORD are kindness and constancy
toward those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
The friendship of the LORD is with those who fear him,
and his covenant, for their instruction.
R. Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.

Gospel                 Luke 1:57-66

When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child
she gave birth to a son.
Her neighbors and relatives heard
that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her,
and they rejoiced with her.
When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child,
they were going to call him Zechariah after his father,
but his mother said in reply,
“No. He will be called John.”
But they answered her,
“There is no one among your relatives who has this name.”
So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called.
He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,”
and all were amazed.
Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed,
and he spoke blessing God.
Then fear came upon all their neighbors,
and all these matters were discussed
throughout the hill country of Judea.
All who heard these things took them to heart, saying,
“What, then, will this child be?
For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.”

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The Hebrew word for “messenger” is mal’aki, and it is given as a proper name to Malachi, the author of today’s reading, which begins, “Lo, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me”. But the messenger of whom Malachi speaks is not himself, but is traditionally believed to be Elijah, who would return to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah. However, the evangelist Matthew will apply this text (Matthew 11:10) to John the Baptist, whose birth is described in today’s Gospel. It is John who will bring the Old Testament to a close. He is the messenger who announces the coming of the Lord, who will bring about the fulfillment of God’s work in history. It is he who will “turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers…”

Today’s Gospel speaks to us of the birth of John the Baptist. It is a day of great joy for Elizabeth, his mother, whose shame, like that of Hannah, the mother of Samuel, has been wiped away. Now she stands tall in the presence of her family members and neighbors, who had heard that the Lord had shown great mercy toward her, and gathered to rejoice with her.

In accordance with the law of Moses, on the eighth day after his birth, the boy was to be circumcised and a name given to him. The neighbors and relatives presumed that he would be given the name of his father, Zechariah, according to well-established custom. But his mother said, “No, he will be called John.” The crowd protested, “There is no one among your relatives who has this name.” So they consulted Zechariah, who, since his dialogue with the angel announcing John’s birth and mission had been struck dumb. He was given a tablet on which on which he wrote, “John is his name.” With that, his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak and to praise the Lord. The incident became the talk of the town, and the matter was a subject of discussion throughout the hill towns of Judea. “What will this child become, for surely the hand of the Lord is with him?”

You and I can ask the same question about ourselves, “What then, am I called to be?” No matter what I am, there is still life ahead, be it long or short. What contribution can I make to other people’s lives? God has a calling for me, based on the gifts he has given me. How can I make the best use of them?