Breaking the Word

GOSPEL  READING:  John 1:19-28

Was he Elijah? The Prophet Malachi declared that God would send Elijah the Prophet to prepare the people before the great and terrible day of the Lord. (4: 5). We know well that Elijah had purified the people on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 19). He directed the people to believe in one true God. Later he was taken up to heaven. So it was believed that he would come back again and prepare the people. He denied that as well.

Was he a prophet? In Deuteronomy 18:15-18 God promised to raise a prophet Like Moses to lead the people. People expected someone to come and settle the mess that was in Israel and lead the people. He denied that as well. Like this there were many expectations. He accepted that he was only a voice that has come to prepare the way of the Lord. (Is 40: 1-8) "I am only a voice": this is his humility and his true greatness.

GOSPEL  READING:  Luke 2:16-21

Today's reading says that Jesus is an infant and he is lying in a manger. He could have been placed in any other place. Why was he placed in the manger? Manger is the place where food is kept for the cattle. Jesus is being placed there. Could this be a prophetic action? Jesus is already announced without word that he is going to be the food for many. It is a symbolic action.

Mary kept all these things in her heart. Mary the mother Jesus was a keen observer of things and not only that but she was also a person of reflection. Everything that happens around is not mere chances but they are of divine intervention for her. Every event revealed something of God to her. The arrival of shepherds and the information that the shepherds gave her made her reflect.