The Coming of Elijah
Mt 17:9a, 10-13
9As they were coming down from the mountain, 10the disciples asked [Jesus], “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” 11He said in reply, “Elijah will indeed come and restore all things; 12but 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.” 13Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.
Reflections
Elijah will indeed come and restore all things. Elijah, the great prophet of the Old Testament, was taken up to heaven in body and soul in a chariot of fire (cf 2 Kgs 2:11). In Mal 3:23-24, it is believed that Elijah will come again before “the great and terrible day” of the Lord.
This is interpreted literally by the Jews, while Jesus connects it to the emergence of John the Baptist. Besides being a miracle worker and disturber of the worship of Baal, the spirit of Elijah is said to “turn the heart of fathers to their sons, and the heart of sons to their fathers” (Mal 3:24).
This, in fact, is how the angel Gabriel describes the mission of Zechariah’s son John: “He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers toward children and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord” (Lk 1:17).
Look and determine whether the spirit of Elijah is relevant in our times and what “restorations” and “turning of hearts” may be needed among us today.
Make a “spiritual wish list” for your family—
something that you will lift up in your prayers
this Advent and during the Misa de Gallo.
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