What will this child become?

The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary highlight anticipation of change in the lives of the people of God. The messenger Malachi calls for the return of an Elijah like figure to Israel to alert the people to the need to turn again to the guidance offered by the Covenant. The situation observed by Malachi is not unlike today when we see the return of the Lord to our present time would present the terrible tension of the Last Days as the evil in our society and persons is vanquished for all eternity. The episode from the Gospel of Luke introduces John the Baptist, at his circumcision, as one who is born with the special attention of God, announced by an angel to barren and elderly parents who give him a name which, according to Friar Jude Winkler, is "Yahweh is mercy". The link between Elijah and John the Baptist may be in the mission of both, the nature of which is understood as an aspect of the relationship with the Divine in the words of the psalmist today "Make me to know your ways O Lord, teach me your paths"