Daily Reflection
of Creighton University's Online Ministries
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December 23rd, 2010
by

Bert Thelen, S.J.

St. John's Church
Click here for a photo of and information on this writer.
The Scripture Readings for the last day before Christmas Eve feature the last and one of the shortest prophets in the Hebrew Bible, Malachi.  His name, probably a pseudonym to protect him (since his message was so unpopular), means "messenger."  It almost seems as if the early Church found a similarity between him and John the Baptist whose birth is recalled in today's Gospel.  There is in both Malachi and John the Baptist a sharp sense of urgency, almost a sense of doom.  Both preach strongly against injustice, recalling the earlier fierce prophet, Elijah.  Both are messengers of the "great and terrible day of the Lord," when God will judge the earth with justice.

In contrast to the first reading, today's Gospel passage recalls almost fondly the birth of John the Baptist, who will be the forerunner and messenger of the Lord whom we all seek.  It's a domestic family scene, the naming of their child by Elizabeth and Zechariah, but it created wonder, fear, and awe.  For when Zechariah wrote down, "John is his name," his tongue was freed and his mouth was opened with a beautiful prayer of blessing we now know as "The Benedictus," chanted in monasteries and Churches ever since the formation of the Christian Scriptures in the late first century.
"Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has come to his people and set them free...He has raised up for us a mighty Savior, born of the house of  his servant, David, etc." 

Zechariah's song ends with these beautifully hopeful words, "In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace."  What an apt description of the Coming of Jesus, Emmanuel, Our  Savior, the Prince of Peace, the celebration of whose birth is only a day and a half away! Today's Psalm  Response says it all:
"Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is at hand."

Reciting and meditating on the words of this Psalm and of the Benedictus (which is tomorrow's Gospel) can constitute our prayer today.  We would be hard pressed to find better words.

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