Gospel: Luke 1:57-66, 80
When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a
son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy
toward her, and they rejoiced with her. When they came on the eighth day to
circumcise the child, they were going to call him Zechariah after his father,
but his mother said in reply, “No. He will be called John.” But they answered
her, “There is no one among your relatives who has this name.” So they made
signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called. He asked for a tablet
and wrote, “John is his name,” and all were amazed. Immediately his mouth was
opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God. Then fear came upon all
their neighbors, and all these matters were discussed throughout the hill
country of Judea. All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, “What,
then, will this child be?” For surely the hand of the Lord was with him. The
child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the desert until the
day of his manifestation to Israel.
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Reflection:
What’s in a name? It seems that the name of the child of Elizabeth and
Zechariah has a big bearing on their future. Was the issue confined in the name
only of the child or there was something bigger than the name? The relatives
wanted to name the child after his father Zechariah but it was not what God
wanted them to name the child.
The Lord wanted to name the child John that’s why Elizabeth and Zechariah
insisted that the child be named John. And when they named him John Zechariah
was freed from his speech disability. His mouth was opened, his tongue freed,
and he spoke blessing God. This took place for the reason that both Elizabeth
and Zechariah were faithful to what God wanted them to do.
Faithfulness to God as evidenced with what happened to Zechariah gives us
unfathomable blessings. It opens our lives to the abundant graces from God, it
makes us whole and it heals us.
What does God ask from us? It’s for us to be faithful to HIS will for us.
And what is HIS will for us? It’s for us to live our lives pleasing to HIS eyes
alone. The moment we contradict God and we try to live our lives for this
temporal world we can expect chaos and complications to follow us. - Marino J.
Dasmarinas
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