TUESDAY, DEC 19
Luke 1:5-25
In the days of Herod, King of Judea,
there was a priest named Zechariah
of the priestly division of Abijah;
his wife was from the daughters of Aaron,
and her name was Elizabeth.
Both were righteous in the eyes of God,
observing all the commandments
and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly.
But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren
and both were advanced in years.Once when he was serving as priest
in his division’s turn before God,
according to the practice of the priestly service,
he was chosen by lot
to enter the sanctuary of the Lord to burn incense.
Then, when the whole assembly of the people was praying outside
at the hour of the incense offering,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him,
standing at the right of the altar of incense.
Zechariah was troubled by what he saw, and fear came upon him.But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah,
because your prayer has been heard.
Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son,
and you shall name him John.
And you will have joy and gladness,
and many will rejoice at his birth,
for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.
He will drink neither wine nor strong drink.
He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb,
and he will turn many of the children of Israel
to the Lord their God.
“He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah
to turn the hearts of fathers toward children
and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous,
to prepare a people fit for the Lord.”Then Zechariah said to the angel,
“How shall I know this?
For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.”
And the angel said to him in reply,
“I am Gabriel, who stand before God.
I was sent to speak to you and to announce to you this good news.
But now you will be speechless and unable to talk
until the day these things take place,
because you did not believe my words,
which will be fulfilled at their proper time.”
Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah
and were amazed that he stayed so long in the sanctuary.
But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them,
and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary.
He was gesturing to them but remained mute.Then, when his days of ministry were completed, he went home.
After this time his wife Elizabeth conceived,
and she went into seclusion for five months, saying,
“So has the Lord done for me at a time when he has seen fit
to take away my disgrace before others.”
Grace: I ask for the grace to know Jesus in a deeper way that I may abundantly love and follow him.
Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth were diligent in the practice of their faith, righteous in the eyes of God, observing all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly. Yet their diligence did not seem to be enough, for Elizabeth was barren and both were advanced in years. In spite of their many prayers that God would give them the joy of a baby and take away my disgrace before others, nothing seemed to be happening. So they continued to mark the time, ‘dotting all the dots’ of traditional piety, over and over again. But we serve a God of ‘suddenlies’, who intervenes in the lives of his people in unexpected ways. Sadly, we do not always recognize these ‘suddenlies’, because they are not what we expected. Just imagine this wondrous scene, when the great Archangel Gabriel bursts upon Zechariah’s rather routine ministrations at the altar, proclaiming that the deepest desire of his heart will be fulfilled. His wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers toward children and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord.” It doesn’t get better than this! But how does Zechariah respond? He is troubled and then frightened because this is not exactly what he had planned. All he wanted was an ordinary baby boy! His fear turns into doubt because he simply cannot process this astonishingly good news. His fear and doubt will rob Zechariah of joy. Fear and doubt continue to rob us when we should be living in expectant joy at the greatness of our God.
For Reflection and Prayer:
Reflect upon a time when you were praying for the fulfillment of your heart’s deepest desire.
How were you expecting God to answer your prayer?
How did God answer your prayer? How did you respond to your ‘suddenly’ from God?
The Contributor:
Gail Dereszewski is the Director of Adult Education and RCIA (the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults at St. Matthew’s parish since 2011. She has been married to her husband Razi for 33 years and has called San Antonio home for 36 years. She considers it a great privilege to be able to serve the people of God through adult ministry.
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Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No portion of this text may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner.