Saturday of the Second Week of Advent, Cycle 1
First reading of the day:
Sirach 48:1-4, 9-11
In those days, like a fire there appeared the prophet Elijah whose words were as a flaming furnace. Their staff of bread he shattered, in his zeal he reduced them to straits; By the Lord’s word he shut up the heavens and three times brought down fire. How awesome are you, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds! Whose glory is equal to yours? You were taken aloft in a whirlwind of fire, in a chariot with fiery horses. 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.
Gospel reading of the day:
Matthew 17:9a, 10-13
As they were coming down from the mountain, the disciples asked Jesus, “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.
Reflection on the gospel: The mystery of salvation is not in the birth of the Child but instead is present in the reason for which the Child comes: as Matthew puts it, to suffer at their hands. We typically celebrate Christmas as a season of joy, and Advent as the herald of the approaching feast shares in that expectant happiness. But if we allow ourselves to enter authentically into the meaning of what enfolds us, we need to acknowledge that what we are doing is not to numb us against the troubles of life. Rather, it is an opportunity to remember and revel in the goodness of God's gifts in Jesus in the midst of our every exultation and desolation. Only to the extent Christmas recalls to our minds the point of Jesus' life is our entry into the feast a real participation in the plan of salvation.
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