A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (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.”
Jesus speaks to the disciples after coming down from the mountain, where they had just witnessed his transfiguration. During the transfiguration, Moses and Elijah appear and speak with Jesus. When the disciples ask Jesus about Elijah’s coming, the question must have been burning in their hearts, having just seen him face to face. Yet, it is also John the Baptist Jesus refers to when he says, “Elijah has already come.” Jesus tells them that just as John suffered at the hands of persecutors, “So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands.” In preparing the hearts of the people, John readies them for the coming of the Messiah and the fulfillment of his mission.
God, strengthen my faith to understand what I need to know. Just as the disciples ask Jesus questions in order to comprehend the role of Elijah in salvation history, I sometimes question how you work in my life through the lives of others. “Elijah will indeed come and restore all things,” Jesus tells the disciples, “but I tell you that Elijah has already come.” You work in time and outside of time to bring about goodness, a mystery beyond human understanding. Let me learn to trust you in momentous events as well as ordinary ones, the mountaintop moments as well as the ones where I tread level ground.
From the Gospel acclamation: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths: All flesh shall see the salvation of God.”
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.