10th December, Thursday
I. Is 41:13-20
II. Mt 11:11-15
Theme: Mission
With John the Baptist the old Testament is brought to a close and we are on the threshold of the New Advent (New Testament). Today we have a message of encouragement in the first reading. God is coming to help, to redeem his people. For us during Advent, the message points clearly to Jesus our Redeemer and Savior. The theme of today’s reading is that God’s mission is to protect his people just as He protected Israel against its enemies and met its needs in the desert wilderness.
The forerunner of Jesus had the honor of ushering Christ in making Him known to the people of the locality. God had entrusted him with the exalted mission of preparing his contemporaries to hear the Gospel. John’s faithfulness is recognized, appreciated and proclaimed by Jesus. The praise he receives must be for his humility: realizing his role he said “He must increase, but I must decrease” (Jn 3:30). St john the Baptist was the greatest in the sense that he had received a mission unique and incomparable in the context of the Old testament. However, in the Kingdom of heaven (the new testament) inaugurated by Christ, the divine gift of grace makes the least of those who faithfully receive it greater that the greatest in the earlier dispensation. Once the work of our redemption is accomplished, God’s grace will also be extended to the just of the old alliance. Thus, the greatness of John the Baptist, the precursor and the last of the prophets, will be enhanced by the dignity of being made a son of God. John the Baptist is Elijah, not in person, but by virtue of his mission.
Our mission as we prepare to celebrate Christmas is to remember that our celebration is not just a nostalgic look at the past but a renewal of hope and energy in working for the building of the Kingdom in the year ahead.
Bro. John Bosco SMM
II BTh