“What we see depends mainly on what we look for.”

“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ― Søren Kierkegaard

Gospel Text: (MT 17:9A, 10-13)

As they were coming down from the mountain,

the disciples asked Jesus,

“Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”

He said in reply, “Elijah will indeed come and restore all things;

but I tell you that Elijah has already come,

and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased.

So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands.”

Then the disciples understood

that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.

A new way of looking and “new heart” are necessary if the ways of God are to be recognized, and if we are to respond with cheerfulness and generosity to the demanding calls of the gospel. Not everybody is willing to understand it, let alone live it. What's more, the way we live our lives and our plans might be in opposition to God's will. An opposition that could turn into a struggle against, and a rejection of, Our Father in Heaven.



We need to discover the intense love that informs God's plans for us and, if we are to be consistent with the faith and morality that Jesus reveals to us, we can't be surprised by the bad treatment, the slander and the persecutions of this world. Being on the right track doesn't stop there from being difficulties in life and He, despite the suffering, teaches us to keep on going.

We are in Advent now, preparing for the arrival of the Lord.  And what will happen when he comes again? Is Elijah already here, speaking fire, preparing the way, but unheeded and unrecognized? Will we recognize the signs? Will we recognize Jesus when he comes?