O king of All nations and keystone of the Church;
Come and save humankind, whom you formed from the dust!
The prophet Malachi makes the coming of the Lord seem imminent. For us who know the full story we can share the excitement that is in his words with more awareness and gratitude than the Jewish people who were still longing for the arrival of the new Lord, the new King. While Malachi speaks of hard times that this new King will bring to be a day of judgment for the sins of the past. He says another prophet will come, Elijah by name, who will help the people not endure such hard times. His mission is to be the prophet who encourages the people to reform their lives, to change their hearts. The true reformer will be John the Baptist. He will fulfill what all the ancient writers have promised. With the birth of John and his beginning of his ministry of preaching the Messiah is announced. He makes the final call to repentance. He wants the people to know that through their repentance all the nations, all the peoples have received salvation in God.
Excitement is in the air today for all of us, I suspect. No matter how many Christmases we may have celebrated, there is something special that takes over in our hearts. It is, this blogger believes, a genuine hope. We all, all of us, beset with worries and genuine concerns for family members, neighbors and friends during these days of most unusual stress. Some have sons and daughters in foreign lands serving in military assignments or diplomatic posts where war is a very close neighbor to those loved ones. Many have known or know dedicated people who gave their lives for the freedom the new King brought when he was born but which has been lost because of greed, division, hatred, and the simple lack of genuine human trust between the men and women created by a loving and caring God. The excitement of hope is very much alive with us today. Let us allow that hope bring all humankind ever closer to the God who created our world, to the King whose desire is that all live in unity.
Today from this parish on Capitol Hill, let us pray for all waring nations and tribes. Let us ask the Lord to bring peace to these nations, especially to those areas around the very lands where Jesus lived and plied out his ministry. So, let us pray: "O King of the nations, come and save all humankind.
