April 4, 2007

May the Lord grant you His peace!

I recently came across this little story.

A Rabbi came up to the prophet Elijah and asked him, “When will the Messiah come?” Elijah told the Rabbi to go and ask the Messiah himself, for he was sitting at the city gate among the poor and the wounded. Elijah added that although the other poor and wounded changed their bandages all at the same time, the Messiah only changed one bandage at a time. The Messiah did not want to be delayed in serving others by needing to finish up attending to himself. In this way, the Messiah would always be ready. So, the Rabbi went to the poor and wounded at the city gate.

When he found the Messiah, he asked him, “When will you come to save us?” The Messiah responded, “Today.” The Rabbi left and waited. After waiting a long time, the Rabbi went back to Elijah to complain. He told Elijah that the Messiah had lied to him and had not come as He had promised. Upon questioning the Rabbi, Elijah clarified that the Messiah had actually said that He was coming “today, if you would listen to my voice.”

“Oh, that today you would hear His voice.” (Psalm 95:7) Oh, that today I would hear His voice. The Messiah does want to come today. In fact, He is here already. He is here in all the struggle, all the darkness, all the difficulty and fear. He is here. We only need the eyes to see and the ears to hear. If today you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your hearts. May this season of fasting, prayer, and alms giving clear your eyes and open your ears. He is here.

Pax et bonum,

Br. Giuseppe Maria Siniscalchi, CFR

St. Joseph Friary, New York, NY

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