14 December 2019
Memorial of Saint John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church
“Blessed is he who shall have seen you and who falls asleep in your friendship,” Sirach proclaims of Elijah (Sirach 48:1-4, 9-11). But when will Elijah come, and who is it that falls asleep in his friendship? To this day, there are men and women of faith who leave an empty seat at their tables in case Elijah should arrive at their homes unannounced. But if Elijah did come, would they recognize him?
According to Jesus, Elijah has come in John the Baptist, but he was not recognized (Mt 17:9a,10-13). The curious thing is that John the Baptist himself did not seem to know that he was the Elijah who was to come (cf. John 1:21-22; for more on this, see: https://www.magisspirituality.org/ignatian_reflection/16-08-29/). This plunges us back into the mystery of Advent. If our goal in the pregnant expectation of this time is to come to a full knowledge of the mysteries that are offered to us, then seek gnosis rather than faith, hope, and love. But if we accept that part of the grandeur of faith, hope, and love is being plunged into realities that will always surpass us, then we can not only accept, but even embrace the fact that not only will God’s grandeur ever exceed what we can know, but also that, in Christ, even our ultimate reality remains veiled to ourselves in this age. Because God is ever greater, so in God, we are ever greater than we can, or should, ever know. And because this is so, heaven can never be boring, because in eternity, heaven, too, will always surpass what we ever dared to hope. And the Advent of this eternity, given to us in a little child, is nigh.