Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved. — Psalm 80:4

Mass Readings: Sirach 48:1-4,9-11 / Matthew 17:9,10-13 

Two Elijahs 

Jesus taught His disciples that the Old Testament had a second and hidden meaning. So, for instance, He explained to them how the manna in the wilderness was really pointing to Him, the Bread of Life (John 6). Likewise, the bronze serpent Moses made was really a sign pointing to His cross (which heals you from the “ultimate snakebite” from the devil) (Jn 3:14). In the same way, He taught that Elijah, the Old Testament prophet, was a foreshadow of the greatest prophet of the Old Covenant: John the Baptist. But He also taught that because the Old Testament was preparation for the New Testament, John had to die, just as He had to die. 

In the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.”

Prayer: St. John the Baptist, pray that I lay down my life for Jesus as you did.