Gospel: Luke 1:5-25
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:
Do you have a
prayer request before God and do you believe that your prayer request will be
granted by God? You must always believe that God will grant your prayer
request. Because when you believe that you will have what you want from God
what you want from Him is already within your reach.
In today's Gospel, the couple Zechariah and Elizabeth
are praying to God for the gift of a child. Yet, when the angel of God appeared
to Zechariah in the sanctuary and told him that his wife would become pregnant,
Zechariah suddenly had doubts. His doubt had a basis, as both of them were
already old.
However, it is so uncharacteristic for Zechariah to
doubt considering that he was a priest serving God. Zechariah forgot that
nothing is impossible for God, did he forget or he simply had weak and feeble
faith? Perhaps Zechariah had weak faith during that moment when the angel of
God appeared to him. Perhaps Zechariah was overwhelmed by their personal
circumstances (Old age).
However, nothing is impossible with God because God
makes all things possible. Hence, let us
not doubt when we have prayers for God. Let us firmly believe and have faith
that God will grant us what we want from Him.
Do you have a prayer request before God? Believe, have faith and you shall have it. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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