Daily Catholic Mass Readings for December 15, 2018
First Reading: Sirach 48.1-4, 9-11
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Psalm 80
1Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.2Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength, and come and save us.3Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.4O LORD God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?5Thou feedest them with the bread of tears; and givest them tears to drink in great measure.6Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbours: and our enemies laugh among themselves.7Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.8Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.9Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.10The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars.11She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river.12Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her?13The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it.14Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine;15And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.16It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.17Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.18So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.19Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
Gospel: Matthew 17.10-13
10And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?11And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.12But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.13Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.
Sermon
The readings today invite us to reflect on the figure of Elijah, a prophet whose fiery passion and unwavering commitment to God’s will left an indelible mark on the history of salvation. In the First Reading from Sirach, Elijah is portrayed as a man of extraordinary zeal, whose words burned like a torch and whose actions were accompanied by miraculous signs. He was a man of judgment and restoration, sent by God to call His people back to faithfulness. Yet, as the passage also notes, Elijah’s mission was not without cost; those who opposed him suffered the consequences of their rebellion. The reading ends with a note of hope: Elijah’s ultimate role was to reconcile and restore, to bring peace between generations.
In the Gospel, Jesus takes up this theme of Elijah but gives it a surprising twist. When the disciples ask why the scribes teach that Elijah must come first before the Messiah, Jesus agrees that Elijah will indeed come to restore all things. However, He adds that Elijah has already come in the person of John the Baptist. The disciples, in their confusion, had failed to recognize John’s role as the fulfillment of Elijah’s spirit. Jesus laments that just as Elijah suffered rejection and mistreatment, so too would the Son of Man suffer at the hands of those who refused to see the truth.
These readings remind us that God’s plan often unfolds in ways we do not expect. Elijah’s spirit appeared in John the Baptist, not in a fiery chariot or a dramatic spectacle, but in a humble prophet crying out in the wilderness. Similarly, in our own lives, God’s presence may come to us through unexpected people or circumstances. The moral lesson here is one of humility and openness. We must learn to recognize God’s work in the world, even when it does not conform to our preconceived notions. Like Elijah and John the Baptist, we are called to be instruments of restoration and reconciliation, bringing light and truth to a world that often resists it. Let us pray for the grace to see God’s hand at work in our lives and to respond with courage and faith.