Deacon Tom Writes,
“My Messenger”
“A
picture is worth a thousand words,” as the saying goes. In today’s first
reading the Prophet Malachi speaks of another messenger whose anticipated
arrival was awaited with much desire by the Jewish people. Malachi writes that this
mysterious person will be pleasing to the Lord and will purge every tinge of
imperfection from his priests and his people. He will fulfill the covenant and
be swift to judge with justice. Malachi writes that “You will find him in the
temple”.
While
our Christmas season has faded into the past, our feast today celebrates the
Jewish ritual in which the first-born male born was presented in the Temple as
a sacred offering to the Lord. What a thought! The most precious gift we
receive from God is symbolically offered back to the Lord, the source of all
that we have… and all that we are.
How
our faith really challenges us! God’s messenger, God’s Word, God’s revelation
of himself to his creation was manifested in such a fully recognizable and
human experience, a child…. a
vulnerable, needy, dependent, infant in whom lies the salvation of a broken
world.
The
Feast we celebrated today calls to mind our need to present ourselves to the
Lord; that we are called to offer our very being and the work of our hands to
do what God asks of us in bringing about the Kingdom of God here in our time,
where we work and live and go about our daily tasks.
Jesus
enters into the human family in an ordinary way, subjects himself to the rites
and rituals of the Jewish faith in order to fully embrace our human condition. Throughout
his ministry, Jesus continues to draw closer to the Father and discerns what is
God’s Will for him. And, by so doing, Jesus becomes for us the “The Way, the
Truth and the Life.”
The
Prophets Simeon and Anna tell Jesus’ wonder struck parents somewhat of the
foreboding road that lies ahead… there will be challenges for their child to
overcome, there will be pain and suffering for him and them, too. Isn’t that
the story of life? Perhaps that’s why God’s Messenger begins his story where we
all do, an infant. May our journey through this life, like Jesus’ follow the
path God has laid out for us. And may we follow his example and place our hope
and trust in him.
Enjoy
the day!
Deacon
Tom
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