Monday of the Fourth Week of Advent
In today’s preparation for Christmas we hear the prophet Malachi speak of how God would prepare the people for His coming. “He will be like a refiner’s fire […] He will sit refining and purifying silver, and he will purify the Levites, refining them like gold or silver, that they may bring offerings to the LORD in righteousness.” (Malachi 3:2-3) Peace incarnate will not leave me unchanged, rather He will refine and cleanse me. If we were to ask gold or silver in the midst of the refining process, it might well affirm that it is an uncomfortable process. It is heated so that the other minerals may rise to the surface and be removed. Such refining fire would be terribly uncomfortable, and yet, what is the end result? The gold is purer, it is unified (not being the worse discomfort of this or that stray mineral sticking in its side), and more radiant.
The Lord then says that He will send the prophet Elijah “to turn the heart of fathers to their sons, the heart of sons to their fathers…” (Malachi 3:24) The refining process is uncomfortable, there may be stray minerals that fathers harbor in their heart against their sons, some dross that the heart of sons harbor against their fathers. To let the Lord turn such a heart may be uncomfortable, and yet, when we look at someone who has made peace in their family (through the refining fire of humility, honesty, and above all charity), we see someone who like that gold is purer, more solid, and who reflects more clearly the light of God.
The name John means “God is gracious.” John was uncomfortable for many, yet, for those who were humbly enough to listen to his call to repentance, their ears were open to hear him cry out, “Behold the Lamb of God!” Let us pray for the grace to let Peace and His messengers refine us, that after the discomfort of refining, we may know all the more deeply the graciousness of God.