THE WORD
Jgs 13,2-7.24-25 / Lk 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 to the Lord.” The 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 t to take away my disgrace before others.”
IN OTHER WORDS
What is my hope for my family this Christmas? What is my greatest hope? How about Zechariah and Elizabeth? What is the greatest hope of this couple? The annunciation of the birth of John to this holy couple, despite their old age and incapacity to have a child, is an announcement of God’s hope.
John is God’s gift of hope to his parents, to their household, to Israel and to all of us.
Advent is a gift of hope, of expectant hope to the Church and to the whole humanity. The object of our hope is God alone, the God who is really the Hopeful One, the God who continuous to hope in us. To hope is to be totally trusting and con dent in God. To hope is to keep us from discouragement.
Hope redirects our troubled hearts towards God.
Benedict XVI, in his Encyclical Letter on Christian Hope has said, ‘Man’s great, true hope which holds rm in spite of all disappointments can only be God—God who has loved us and continues to love us to the end, until all is accomplished.’(Spe Salvi, 27)
- Fr. Dante Barril, SVD | CKMS, Quezon City
The Word in other words 2016
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
