St. John of Kanty, priest

Fight all error but do it with good humor, patience, kindness and love.

Harshness will damage your own soul and spoil the best cause.

 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

Malachi 3:1-4, 23-24

Now I am

Sending my messenger ahead of me, to clear the way; then suddenly the Lord, for whom you long, will enter the Sanctuary.

The envoy of the Covenant which you so greatly desire, already comes, says the Lord of hosts.

Who can bear the day of his coming and remain standing when he appears?

For he will be like fire in the foundry and like the lye used for bleaching.

He will be as a refiner or a fuller. He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them, like gold and silver.

 

So the Lord will have priests who will present the offering as it should be.

Then the Lord will accept with pleasure the offering of Judah and Jerusalem, as in former days.

I am going to send you the prophet Elijah before the day of the Lord comes, for it will be a great and terrible day.

He will reconcile parents with their children, and the children with their parents, so that I may not have to curse this land when I come."

 

Ps 25:4-5ab, 8-9, 10 & 14 

 Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊      Luke 1:57-66

When the time came for Elizabeth, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard

that the merciful Lord had done a wonderful thing for her, and they rejoiced with her.

 

When, on the eighth day, they came to attend the circumcision of the child, they wanted to name him Zechariah after his father.

But his mother said, "Not so; he shall be called John." They said to her,

"But no one in your family has that name!" and they made signs to his father for the name he wanted to give him.

 

Zechariah asked for a writing tablet, and wrote on it, "His name is John;" and they were very surprised. Immediately,

Zechariah could speak again, and his first words were in praise of God.

A holy fear came on all in the neighborhood, and throughout the hill country of Judea the people talked about these events.

All who heard of it, pondered in their minds, and wondered,

"What will this child be?" For they understood that the hand of the Lord was with him.

 

Gospel Reflection ：

"God has been merciful."

Following on from yesterday's reflection on names,

today we hear Elizabeth and Zechariah declare that their son

will be called not by a name typical of their family, but by a different name.

He is to be called John, meaning "God is gracious" or "God has been merciful."

God has been merciful in giving a son to these elderly parents. However,

the mercy extends beyond Elizabeth and Zechariah. The angel says that "God has heard your prayer (Lk 1:13)."

 

But this is not just the prayer of the couple, but of all who suffer and are burdened with sorrow or sin.

And so, their son will usher in the time of the One who will console his people.

Thus, God has heard, and because God is merciful, God is coming to save.

By his name and Zechariah's miraculous restoration of speech, the people understand that John is someone special in God's sight.

 

He will, in the words of Malachi, be God's messenger, "the envoy of the Covenant",

and the one who will purify the people through repentance. John's name reveals why God wants to save

his people and to bring them back to him: it's love, pure and simple.