Thursday of the Fourth Week of Advent

Lectionary: 199

Lo, I will send you
Elijah, the prophet,
Before the day of the LORD comes,
the great and terrible day,
To turn the hearts of the
fathers to their children,
and the hearts of the children to their fathers,
Lest I come and strike
the land with doom.


The work of John the Baptist -- "to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers" -- began with his naming. If everyone expected the boy to be named after someone in the family, preferably his own father Zechariah, the Spirit of God dictated otherwise. The firstborn son of an aged couple would not redeem his parent's reputation for sterility with the title of "Junior" or "Little Zack."

Zechariah and Elizabeth affirmed the infant's mission when they named him John. This child would begin a new line of prophets and martyrs. Their birth would be baptism, and many would be like John's, a baptism of blood. And his name would last forever, "John the Baptist."

The relatives and friends who have come to honor the unexpected blessing make quite a fuss about this incident. "None of his relatives are named John!" they complain. "It's not traditional, it's not our custom, it doesn't make sense. If he's named John what will that lead to?" They are somewhat reassured by the sign of the old man regaining his speech. It seems that God is present here, "But what does it mean?"

Christmas, the most honored of Christian festivals is hoary with customs and traditions, many reinterpreted to suit the desperate needs of an anxious, consumer society. Billions of dollars are spent on gifts which should turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Families flood the highways and airports in desperate efforts to heal the rifts of past years.

But the damage of abortion -- the angst of realizing I might have been aborted -- plagues younger generations of many nations. Some have learned that their fathers or grandparents urged their mothers to abort. Many more failed to prove that their mother's "sacrifice" was worth it as they disappointed them on many occasions. God's prediction in Genesis had been fulfilled when the children demonstrated that they were not sent to fulfill the expectations of their parents. A pall of disappointment shrouds the life of families as divorce, drug abuse, and suicide shatter the hopes and dreams of all the years.

The birth of John the Baptist inaugurates a new age in human history. Children will not be given to anxious parents to satisfy their needs for clones of themselves. The Spirit that drives the Baptized does not create an infant to be just like their parent, a chip off the old block. They will often ask, "What will this child be?" as the children are baptized, receive Holy Communion, atone for their sins, receive Confirmation, and discern their vocations. Parents will suffer more anxiety as the children witness their faith in Jesus and the Church in an increasingly hostile world.

Those who prepare for Christmas with the disciplines of Advent, poring over the readings, songs, and symbols hear the ominous sounds of the future approaching. Even as they revive the ancient rites and memories of Christmas they catch the undertones of uncertainty and wonder. The Gospel assures us that God is here. When Zechariah regained his voice, the anxious family realized the Lord is near, even in this room! And surely the hand of the Lord was with them.