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.”
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Reflection:
How profound is your faith in the Lord?
Does your faith create awareness in you that nothing is impossible with the Lord?
We have in our gospel Zechariah a
priest who is in the twilight of his life. For the reason of his advance age
Zechariah thought that he would never have a child. Until the Lord through an
angel intervened and granted what he long for but Zechariah still did not
believe.
Nothing is impossible with God for
those who believe; unfortunately, Zechariah was deficient in this aspect. The
possible for God was impossible for him. Considering that he is a Priest his
faith seems to be shallow. But we can’t blame Zechariah for he was just being
realistic; he and his wife Elizabeth were both old already. So, how could his
wife be pregnant?
Once in a while we also pass through
this episode of unbelief and lack of faith. Amidst this episode, let us not
lose focus on the fact that nothing is impossible with the Lord for those who
believe and have faith.
We may have dreams or aspirations in
life that may seem impossible for us to achieve and we naturally doubt. But let
us not doubt let us continue to silently work for that seemingly impossible
dream. Then let us leave everything to the Lord’s providence let us ask Him to
bless and guide us as we aspire for this impossible dream.
Do you believe that the Lord will give
you what you’ve been praying for? If you believe and you have strong faith you
will have it. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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