Memorial of Saint Lucy

Today's Mass Readings

Over the past week, the figures of Mary and John the Baptist have been given special attention in the readings. Obviously, this is due to the special vocation that they each had in preparing the world for the Lord Jesus Christ. In both cases, it was a preparation which was central to their existence, encompassing the entirety of their lives and giving them their purpose. We celebrated the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary this week in order to remember that she was, through out her entire life, the embodiment of the world’s preparation for the coming of Christ. And, in her visit to St. Elizabeth, we have seen that she brings the Spirit of God to John the Baptist, for he leaps in the womb of his own mother upon hearing the voice of the soon to be Mother of God. And so, he who will be the forerunner of Christ, the one who will prepare the way of the Lord, is himself first prepared from the womb. He is prepared through the arrival of she who was preserved from the stain of original sin from first moment of her conception. The readings for today, of course, focus on the relationship between John the Baptist and the prophet Elijah. This relationship has already been explored several times over the past week, and so the most unique aspect of today’s reading is the description of Elijah from Sirach. Like John the Baptist, Elijah was a prophetic figure who denounced the political rulers for their immoral behavior. He appeared “like a fire” and his words were “like a flaming furnace.” He summoned fire from heaven and is taken up to heaven himself in “a whirlwind of fire, in a chariot with fiery horses.” The clear implication is that the message of Elijah was one of purification and judgment.

Yet, in the end, judgment does not seem to be the main point, after all. The first reading ends with a message with which we are very familiar: Elijah will come again to herald the Messiah. We are told by Jesus in the Gospel that this Elijah-like figure is John the Baptist. Yet, in Sirach, we are told that this figure, whose message is so fiery, who seems to be concerned with purification and judgment, shall actually come “to put an end to the day of wrath” and bring reconciliation between parents and children. The purpose of this figure seems actually to be reconciliation, peace, and friendship. The reason, of course, is that it is this attitude which is the proper preparation for the coming of Jesus. Although Advent is a time of purification, we are to recognize that the most important kind of purification is usually that of reconciliation with others. John the Baptist prepares us for the coming of Jesus and, while his message is one of repentance and purification, the ultimate way to this purification is peace and harmony, particularly between relatives.

Finally, it worth noting, as a parallel to the attention that they have received this week, that Jesus, Mary, and John the Baptist seem almost to divide the liturgical calendar between them. Christmas, of course, is celebrated on December 25, only a few days after the “shortest” day of the year, and is at the beginning of winter. The Annunciation, commonly seen as the “Conception of Jesus,” is celebrated nine months earlier, on March 25, at the very beginning of spring. The Nativity of St. John the Baptist, celebrated at the start of the summer (June 24), heralds the shortening of days, for as the Baptist says about Jesus in the Gospel of John, “He must increase, I must decrease.” The celebration of the Immaculate Conception on December 8 means that the Nativity of Mary is celebrated on September 8, shortly before start of autumn. The result of this “division” in the calendar is that the entire liturgical year seems constituted by the continuously peaceful relationships of these three holy relatives.

These three holy figures provide for us a model for living in the peaceful relationship.Let us pray that the same peace may remain with us always.

Matthew Minix