23 December 2026 · Latin Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malankara Rite · Syro-Malabar Rite · മലയാളം
“He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And all of them were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God.” Luke 1:63–64
The last O Antiphon: “O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver, the hope of the nations and their Saviour: come and save us, O Lord our God.” Malachi, the last of the prophets, announces a messenger who will prepare the way, and the Lord who will suddenly come to his temple, like a refiner's fire. He will send Elijah “to turn the hearts of parents to their children”.
In the Gospel the messenger is born. Neighbours rejoice with Elizabeth because the Lord has shown great mercy to her. At the circumcision they want to call the child Zechariah, after his father, but Elizabeth says, “No; he is to be called John.” Zechariah, mute for nine months, writes, “His name is John”, and his tongue is freed to praise God. John means “The Lord has shown favour”. The name is not the family's choice but God's gift: this child belongs to God's plan. “What then will this child become?” For “the hand of the Lord was with him.”
Theme: “His name is John.”
The messenger is born; the Lord comes as refiner's fire; silence breaks into praise.
“See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.” Malachi 3:1
“This is the one about whom it is written, ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’” Matthew 11:10
Apply: Prepare one practical thing for Christmas with prayer.
“But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the LORD in righteousness.” Malachi 3:2–3
“I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Matthew 3:11
Apply: Make your Christmas Confession today or tomorrow.
“Listen to me, O coastlands, pay attention, you peoples from far away! The LORD called me before I was born, while I was in my mother's womb he named me.” Isaiah 49:1
“He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And all of them were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God.” Luke 1:63–64
Apply: Praise God aloud for one mercy today.
God names, calls and frees.
O Emmanuel, come!
Take-home resolution: Be reconciled with someone before Christmas Eve.
Dear friends, today's O Antiphon, the last, prays: O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver, the hope of the nations and their Saviour: come and save us, O Lord our God. Read backwards, the first letters of the antiphons in Latin spell ERO CRAS: tomorrow I will be there (T).
Malachi announces: see, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. Then he promises to send the prophet Elijah, who will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents (Malachi 3:1, 23–24).
In the Gospel Elizabeth gives birth to her son. Neighbours and relatives want to name him Zechariah after his father. But Elizabeth says: no; he is to be called John. They ask Zechariah, and he writes on a tablet: his name is John. Immediately his mouth is opened and he begins to speak, praising God (Luke 1:57–64).
John means God is gracious. The name was not chosen by family custom but by God. Zechariah's obedience, writing the name God gave, loosened his tongue. When we obey God, even after doubting, our lips are opened for praise.
The people asked: what then will this child become? For the hand of the Lord was with him (Luke 1:66). Every child is a mystery and a promise. Every child is born with God's hand upon them.
On the eve of Christmas Eve, let us obey God in whatever he has asked and we have delayed. Let us turn our hearts to our families, as Malachi says. And let us pray with longing: O Emmanuel, come. Tomorrow I will be there. Amen.
Children, Zechariah could not speak until he obeyed God; then he praised God. When we obey God, our hearts are happy!
O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver, hope and Saviour of the nations, come and save us, O Lord our God. As you freed Zechariah's tongue, open my lips to praise you, and let your hand be with me. Amen.
Two days before Christmas the Church reads the end of the last prophet of the Book of the Twelve and the birth of the man who fulfils his words. Malachi promises a messenger and the return of Elijah. Luke shows the messenger's first days: a child is named, a silent father speaks, and the whole hill country asks who this child will be.
Setting.
Malachi speaks after the exile, probably in the fifth century BC. The Temple has been rebuilt, but worship has become careless and people ask, “Where is the God of justice?” (2:17). Today's reading answers: the Lord himself is coming, and his coming will purify.
A note on numbering: the Hebrew text of Malachi has three chapters, and the Lectionary follows it. The NRSV and the POC print the last verses as chapter 4, so 3:23–24 is the same as 4:5–6 in the quotations below. In many Christian Bibles these are the last verses of the Old Testament.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple.” (3:1)
The Gospels apply this verse to John the Baptist (Matthew 11:10; Mark 1:2; Luke 7:27). Once John has prepared the way, the Lord comes to his Temple: Luke will show the child Jesus carried there (2:22).
“But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap;” (3:2)
Fire burns away what is false, but it is used on what is precious. A refiner does not throw away silver.
“Lo, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.” (4:5)
Elijah did not die but was taken up (2 Kings 2:11), so Israel looked for his return. Jewish custom still keeps that hope alive at the Passover table.
“He will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents,” (4:6)
Before the great day comes, homes must be healed. The book's last word is “curse”; when Jewish readers read it aloud they repeat the previous verse, so as not to end there. The angel takes up this verse when he tells Zechariah about John (Luke 1:17).
How the Church reads it.
Jesus says of John, “he is Elijah who is to come” (Matthew 11:14). The Catechism calls John the Lord's immediate precursor, going before him “in the spirit and power of Elijah” (CCC 523; see 718–719). Early Christians also heard in Malachi a promise of pure worship: the Didache applies Malachi 1:11 to the Eucharist, and the Roman Eucharistic Prayer III echoes that verse in the words “from the rising of the sun to its setting”.
Setting.
Nine months earlier the angel had told Zechariah in the Temple that Elizabeth would bear a son and that he must be called John (1:13). Zechariah doubted and was struck silent (1:20). Now the word comes true. On the eighth day, as the Law commands (Leviticus 12:3), the family gathers for the circumcision.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“But his mother said, “No; he is to be called John.”” (1:60)
Luke does not tell us how she knew. Zechariah could have written it for her, or the Spirit could have shown her. What matters is that the mother speaks up first, against all custom.
“He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And all of them were amazed.” (1:63)
He does not write “let his name be” but “his name is”. The name has already been given by God. Zechariah's obedience is the moment his silence ends. The relatives had to make signs to him (1:62), which suggests that he could not hear either.
““What then will this child become?” For, indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him.” (1:66)
This is the Advent question. It is asked of every child brought to the font.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism says that when the Church celebrates the precursor's birth and martyrdom she unites herself to his desire: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (CCC 524; John 3:30). The Latin calendar keeps the birthdays of only three persons: Jesus, Mary and John. St Augustine, preaching on the Baptist, calls John the voice and Christ the Word; and he notes that John was born when the days begin to shorten and Christ when they begin to lengthen (in substance).
Tonight's antiphon at Evening Prayer is the last of the series: O Emmanuel, God with us (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23). The Latin titles of the seven antiphons, read from last to first, begin with letters that spell Ero cras, “I will be there tomorrow”. Whether this was intended is not certain, but many have loved the thought.