Wake Up

It is good to have a warning before danger comes, but what if one came and we missed it?

Then they asked him, 'Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?' He said to them, 'Elijah is indeed coming first to restore all things. How then is it written about the Son of Man, that he is to go through many sufferings and be treated with contempt? But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written about him.' - Mark 9:11-13

In today's Gospel, the disciples start to put the pieces together to see how Jesus could be the Messiah.

In Malachi 4:5-6, we have the prophecy of Elijah's return.  “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.” 

The empty chair at the Seder is Elijah's chair and it is left in the hope of his coming to herald in the end time.

Jesus tells his disciples that Elijah has already come and we believe he is talking about John the Baptist.

So, if all this has happened already, how are we doing?  Have the hearts of fathers been turned toward their children and the hearts of children toward their fathers?

You would think we would take the warning of impending danger seriously, regardless of whether we believe it is past or about to happen.

But it is in our nature to believe time goes on and we go on with it.

Now I am not saying we should live in fear, but it might not hurt to take a serious assessment of our lives and see if we are happy where we have wound up.  Are our hearts in the right place and our relationships in the right state?

So, this day, let us take stock.  Imagine Elijah has come and given us a wake up call.  How will we approach the day knowing it could be the only one we have?

More to come...