Recognize Him
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 he who shall have seen you and who falls asleep in your friendship. Sirach 48:10-11
"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 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 17:10-13
Piety
I have come a light into the world that whoever believes in Me may not remain in darkness. (John 12:46)
May the light of the world help us recognize Jesus among us.
Study
When I was in high school and college, it was very easy to pick up a copy of the New Testament. The American Bible Society made free copies available of the Good News for Modern Man. It was a contemporary translation with cute little cartoons and up-to-date vernacular. Having these nearly pocket-sized paperbacks made it easy to immerse yourself in the study of the Gospels and Epistles. However, it divorced your study from the context of the Hebrew Bible and sacred history.
Today, we see why that context is important in answering the question, “Who is Jesus?” Advent is all about waiting for Jesus…but what? Right there in Lesson One of the Baltimore Catechism (which we studied in elementary school CCD classes) was this question: [i]
5. From whom do we learn to know, love, and serve God?
We learn to know, love, and serve God from Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who teaches us through the Catholic Church.
Despite spending three years in public ministry with Jesus of Nazareth, the carpenter’s son (small s), Jesus wanted to know if his teaching was starting to resonate with the disciples.
Today’s Gospel reading takes place as the disciples are coming down from the mountaintop experience of the Transfiguration. Moment ago, they had the revelation from God: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”
To say that the disciples were not expecting this revelation would be an understatement. They are trying to come to terms with what has happened and they fall back on what they learned in the synagogue years ago. If you are the Son of God, was not Elijah supposed to come first?
In response to the disciples’ question about the expected return of Elijah, Jesus explains the mission of John the Baptist, the one crying out in the wilderness. John was and is the fulfillment of that first expectation that foretold the Emmanuel. However, the context of John before Jesus was not suspected by those who opposed and finally killed him, and Jesus predicts a similar fate for himself.
If we do not understand the role Elijah had in salvation history from Kings (1 and 2), Chronicles, Psalms, Sirach and the rest of the Hebrew Bible, we would be like the disciples coming down from the mountaintop Epiphany – unsure of who Jesus is and what he is here to teach to us.
Action
We learn to know, love, and serve God from Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who teaches us through the Catholic Church. When we know Jesus, we learn to welcome the stranger, the leper, the poor widow, the Samaritan who is mugged and bleeding in a ditch, the Prodigal Son, and the lost sheep.
Some people in Biblical history experienced Epiphany next to a cradle in Bethlehem. Others experienced Epiphany on a mountaintop or with a direct encounter with Jesus. However, we have to be alert and open to the coming of our Christmas-encounter whenever and wherever it happens.
Advent is all about getting ready and waiting. Just do not miss the bus when it pulls up because we are too busy selling trees, decorating the house, buying presents, baking cookies and making travel plans. Do not let our busy-ness make us fail to “recognize him.”
We can not divorce Jesus from Elijah. We can not divorce Jesus from the Baptist. We also can not divorce Jesus from our neighbor today.
We have a perfect example happening on our southern border daily. It is easy to ignore when we are 2,100 miles away. Refugees in the mold of Jesus, Mary and Joseph are fleeing violence in Honduras and Guatemala just like the Holy family was fleeing the slaughter of the innocents. Sadly, a 7-year-old girl is the latest “innocent” who died in the custody of the U.S. Border Patrol last week.
Seeking asylum is a universal human right.
Seeking asylum is a universal human right.
Seeking asylum is a universal human right.
As Rev. James Martin, S.J. commented, the death of 7-year-old Jakelin Caal (who walked across the U.S. border with her father and 161 other migrants outside Antelope Wells, N.M.) is a "very sad example of the dangers" of not welcoming the stranger.
When are we going to stop demonizing the desperate? I have a lot. I have enough. Many of us have more than we need - we have enough to help those who don't. In this season where we get grace freely given beyond what we deserve, send a gift to Catholic Charities in (the ironically named?) border diocese of Las Cruces, NM.
All images from the Catholic Charities of Las Cruces website.
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