Bible
Study: Malachi 3, 1 to 4 and 4, 5 to 6. And Luke 1, 57 to 66.
Christmas
means a lot of things to different persons but generally, it is a season of
joy, a season of love, a season of re-union, a season where people get to spend
time away from work with the people who matter most in their lives. As much as
Christmas can actually be a time for external enjoyment, it is also and more
importantly a time for inner purification. This is the message of Malachi in
today’s first reading.
“Lo, I am
sending my messenger to prepare the way before me… he is like a refiner’s fire,
or like the fuller’s lye. He will sit refining and purifying silver, and he
will purify the sons of Levi, Refining them like gold or like silver that they
may offer due sacrifice to the LORD.”
To make
our Christmas worthwhile, we need to enter the REFINERY OF EXAMINATION OF
CONSCIENCE. Like any examination, it is either we pass or we fail. And we only
pass when we succeed in actually repenting of our sins. It is not enough that
we go for confession, it is important that we follow up with our resolutions
afterwards. By the way, if by now, you still haven’t gone for confession, then
it means you are not ready for Christ’s birthday. Please take out time to
examine your heart, refine it and take out any lingering impurity.
Sometimes,
God himself helps us carry out this process of refining our hearts. He does it
in several ways. For instance, the death of a friend can become a moment of
repentance for some persons; the sudden realization that one is not too old to
die can shock a person to repentance. It could also happen that sickness leads
a person to repentance. Even bankruptcy; the sudden emptiness of one’s pocket
can lead a person to turn to God for help thereby repenting of his or her
former life. (Perhaps, with the suspension of the popular Ponzi scheme,
multi-money-mistake mmm, some may have repented).
Zachariah
was helped by God to repent. He did not believe what the Angel told him. God
decided to seal up his mouth so that he wouldn’t go about spreading doubt with
his words. His nine-month calamity gave him enough time for repentance and his
faith was again restored. As soon as he named the child John by writing, he
suddenly could speak again. And guess what, the first thing that came out of
his mouth was to sing the praises of God. His song of praises is also known as
the Canticle of Zechariah.
The
canticle of Zachariah is very similar to the Songs of Mary and Hannah which we
saw in yesterday’s readings. It begins with: “Blessed be the God of Israel, he
has visited his people and redeemed them, he has raised up for us a Mighty Saviour...”
Do these words appear to proceed from a doubting man? Zechariah really
repented!
In nine
months, this man was transformed from a doubt-stricken priest to a great
prophet. In fact, in that same canticle which he sang at the naming ceremony of
John the Baptist, Zachariah prophesied: “You my child shall be called the prophet
of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way, to give
his people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.” And guess
what? John the Baptist grew up to fulfil every single detail of this prophecy. It
was as if Zachariah was reading his biography even when he was just a few days
old.
As we
reflect on the repentance of Zachariah, let us begin to take positive steps
towards our own. Let us wait for God to bless us with some calamity before we
repent.
Let us
Pray: Lord Jesus, cleanse my heart and make me new. Amen.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith.
It is well with you. God bless you and Merry Christmas in advance.
Fr. Abu.
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