2nd WEEK OF ADVENT
Psalter: Week 2 / (Violet)
Ps 80:2ac & 3b, 15-16, 18-19
Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
1st Reading: Sir 48:1-4, 9-11
Then came the prophet Elijah, like a fire, his words a burning torch.
He brought a famine on the people and in his zealous love had them reduced in number.
Speaking in the name of the Lord he closed the heavens, and on three occasions called down fire.
How marvelous you were, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds! Who could ever boast of being your equal?
You were taken up by a whirlwind of flames in a chariot drawn by fiery horses.
It was written that you should be the one to calm God‘s anger in the future, before it broke out in fury, to turn the hearts of fathers to their sons and to restore the tribes of Jacob.
Happy are those who will see you and those who die in love, for we too shall live.
Gospel: Mt 17:9a, 10-13
And as they came down the mountain, Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man be raised from the dead.
The disciples asked him, “Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?“ Jesus answered, “So it is: first comes Elijah; and he will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come; and they did not recognize him; and they treated him as they pleased. And they will also make the Son of Man suffer.“
Then the disciples understood that Jesus was referring to John the Baptist.
REFLECTION:
In the Bible there were great people that the Jews cannot forget. Among them is the great prophet Elijah, mentioned in both readings today.
The Jews believed that Elijah will return in the days of the Messiah. For them, he will be raised from the dead by God; as he was taken into heaven by means of a chariot of fire. He will be a sign of hope and salvation. He will come before the Messiah.
Jesus in today‘s gospel exhorted the people not to wait for Elijah because He is already in their midst. But, they did not recognize Him; rejected and persecuted Him. Jesus has the same fate with Elijah. He then is Elijah par excellence, bringing hope and salvation, sign of God‘s visitation to His people.
God through Jesus continues to come and visit us. He comes to us in the word of God, in the faces of the poor, in the community gathered in his name, in his ministers, in events and most especially in the sacred species of bread and wine. Do we recognize his presence in them? Or do we reject of him like the people of Jesus‘ times?
Daily Reflection
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Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57th Edition) The New English Translation for the ROMAN MISSAL
With permission from the EPISCOPAL COMMISION ON LITURGY of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
Readings and Reflections
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