It is 10th December 2016. The readings are from Sirach 48:1-4, 9-11 and the Gospel from Matthew 17:10-13. The first reading reminds us about all that Elijah did and informs us about his coming again. “Lo, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents, so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse.” (Mal 4:5f). The fact is that Elijah has already come in the person of John the Baptist. Elijah, a prophet who fought for God and lived a very simple life and preached penance. The responsorial Psalm praises, “God of hosts, bring us back; let your face shine onus and we shall be saved. In the Gospel, Jesus points out that John the Baptist took the prophetic role of Elijah confronting the attachment to sin. We too are invited to practice the baptism promise of being a prophet for Christ Jesus in a given situation. We all need to be a forerunner for Christ. To be a herald means to have potential change in our outlook and the way we live socially, materially and spiritually. Our lives need to be centred around Jesus always. We need to have unbiased willingness to live and share the values of the Kingdom of God with the others. May God bless you to be a herald for the Lord. Have a good day.