‘For you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall’ [Mal 4:2]. This is a prophecy about the Savior that we read in the final chapter of the last book of the Old Testament.
But Elijah had to come before Jesus. He was commissioned with the ministry of turning the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents, so that God will not come and strike the land with a curse [Mal 4:6].
Elijah did come. Yet they did not recognize him, but they did to him whatever they pleased [Mt 17:12]. With these words Jesus confirmed that the Elijah they were expecting was none other than John the Baptist. There is no wonder for those who could not recognize John could not recognize Jesus also. How could someone who stubbornly refuses to bear fruits worthy of repentance [Mt 3:8] could welcome the one coming to baptize them with the Holy Spirit and fire?[Mt 3:11].
The incarnation of Jesus was the fulfilment of prophecies. But not everyone could experience it in its fullness. It was reserved for a few who submitted themselves to be baptized with water for repentance [Mt 3:11] and to be circumcised as a matter of heart [Rom 2:29].
The true spirit of Christmas lies in making oneself humble and there is no better place to humble ourselves than the confessional. Jesus emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death- even death on a cross [Phil 2:7-8]. What better gift could we give the Son of God than a heart cleansed by the tears of repentance?
Jesus was born into the manger with the mission to be handed over to death for our trespasses and to be raised for our justification, [Rom 4:25] at the appointed time. No Christmas will be complete without remembering that cross raised on Calvary for him. And the remembrance of the cross will surely lead us to repentance.
Acknowledging that Jesus came to ‘give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death’ [Lk 1:79] let us humble ourselves before the Lord at the confessional. May the Sun of Righteousness bless us with the grace to celebrate this Christmas with a pure heart, for we do not know whether another Christmas awaits us.
