a refiner and washer God - fiesta candelaria 2015

In the old calendar of the church February 2 is the end of Christmas, the 40^th day after December 25.  If you notice the mornings are no longer as dark as it was in December and in the beginning of January.  Sang nagligad dulom pa ang ala seis.  Subong masanag na ang kaagahon.  That is the reason why the church reads again the prophecy of the Prophet Malachi as it ends Christmas to remind us that Jesus, the messiah, is the sun of righteousness, he is the sun that never sets, he is the light that will scatter the gloom.  Mary enters the picture because tradition calls her the morning star, in Latin she is called stella matutina because like the morning star which appears just before the rising of the sun, Mary gets into the picture just before Jesus appears.  She therefore announces the coming of Jesus.

Today we reflect on the prophet Malachi, our first reading.  The day of Christ’s coming is described by the prophet Malachi in two words - a great and terrible day.  It shall be a great and terrible day because God will come as a refiner’s fire and a fuller’s lye. 

We know God by his more popular designations - God the healer, God the provider, God who does not want me to suffer, God the redeemer, God the lover, God the pleaser, kag sa aton nga may madamo utang we even designate God the financial manager, God the problem solver. I know many of you came here because God is all of the above.  I also came here with that intention. 

Today however Malachi wants us to know that God is all of the above, yes, but he is also as a refiner’s fire and a fuller’s lye - a refiner of gold and the washer of clothes.

We are gold but we need to be refined, we need to be purified.  And for it to be cleansed of impurities kinahanglan igaang sa mainit nga kalayo. 

We are a rich cloth made of the finest wool but for wool to be beautiful it needs to be washed, kinahanglan kusuon, kinahanglan pakangon, kinahanglan puga-on.

It is difficult to believe that God is God if he is refiner.  It is difficult to believe that God is God when he is a washer of clothes.  Malachi calls it a terrible day.

We complain to God about a sick member in the family, about how we have to carry the burden day in and day out, how they test our patience, how we worry, filled with anxiety.  But it is also in these times when we learn to be compassionate, times when we rediscover the value of waiting patiently, times when we wanted to get mad but held our tongue and swallowed our pride.  Is this not the work of a refiner God, a God who washes away our dirt and grime?

We come here complaining about money, about needs that are not met, about wants that cannot be attained.  And yet see how in our poverty we learned to live simply again, how we rediscovered the so many things in our lives we can do without, and even happily live without.  Is this not the work of a refiner God, is this not the work of a washer God who takes away our excesses and non-essentials?

We come with problems, we come here in crisis, we come here with the hope that problems will be solved, dreams will be met, obstacles will be taken out.  And yet see how our problems made us strong, how our crisis made us choose a better track, how our problems made us see from a different angle, how we appreciated unfulfilled dreams and how obstacles made us stronger climbers of mountains we cannot move.  Is this not the work of a refiner God and a God who washes away our fears and biases about ourselves?

Mary’s heart was pierced by a sword.  It must have been painful.  It must have been disconcerting for a woman her age going through all the trouble of having her child.  But is this not the work of a refiner God and a God, who in looking at her with favour, pierced her heart with a sword, so that in the end all generations will call her blessed?

A candle has to lose its wax, it has to be twisted and deformed by heat so that it can give light.  Is this not the wisdom of a refiner God, is this not the work of a washer God?  When our lives reach that point when we become like a lighted candle or resemble Mary’s pierced heart, know that God has come into our lives – and he comes as a refiner and a washer.  And when he does, just as the prophet Malachi said, it might be a terrible day but it would also be a great day because it is the day of our salvation.