Reading 1 Mal 3:1-4, 23-24
Thus says the Lord GOD:
Lo, I am sending my messenger
to prepare the way before me;
And suddenly there will come to the temple
the LORD whom you seek,
And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire.
Yes, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.
But who will endure the day of his coming?
And who can stand when he appears?
For he is like the refiner's fire,
or like the fuller's lye.
He will sit refining and purifying silver,
and he will purify the sons of Levi,
Refining them like gold or like silver
that they may offer due sacrifice to the LORD.
Then the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem
will please the LORD,
as in the days of old, as in years gone by.
Lo, I will send you
Elijah, the prophet,
Before the day of the LORD comes,
the great and terrible day,
To turn the hearts of the fathers to their children,
and the hearts of the children to their fathers,
Lest I come and strike
the land with doom.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 25:4-5ab, 8-9, 10 and 14
R. (see Luke 21:28) Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
R. Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.
Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
he teaches the humble his way.
R. Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.
All the paths of the LORD are kindness and constancy
toward those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
The friendship of the LORD is with those who fear him,
and his covenant, for their instruction.
R. Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.
Gospel Lk 1:57-66
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."
Meditation: Luke 1:57-66
He asked for a tablet and wrote, ‘John is his name.’” (Luke 1:63)
Imagine Elizabeth at the well in town, drawing water. Zechariah is at home, trying to dress in the morning. Not being able to talk, he can’t just call out: “Elizabeth, where’s my other sandal?” For nine months, Zechariah had to write or use signals for everything he wanted to say. If he wanted to talk with his wife—about what the angel said in the Temple, for example, or what to name their child—he had to write it down and get her attention so that she could read it.
Zechariah was a righteous man, but he still got it wrong at first. The angel spoke, and his faith just wasn’t strong enough to guide him. His subsequent silencing by the angel may have made things harder for him, but it didn’t negate God’s plan. In fact, Zechariah did learn—and Elizabeth learned along with him. Those nine months became a kind of retreat for them, a time for reflection and deeper prayer. Together they learned God’s ways. Together they let the Lord prepare them for the next thing in their lives.
This is how God deals with us, too. He doesn’t expect us to be perfect or always get everything right.
He knows that we will make mistakes and sometimes misunderstand him or doubt him. After all, his ways are as high above our ways as the heavens are above the earth (Isaiah 55:9). The good news is that as different as his ways are, he wants to teach them to us. And even when we get things wrong, God can use the situation to take us to a deeper faith, just as he did with Zechariah.
God wants all of us to use this special season of Advent to deepen our faith in him. Zechariah doubted, but over the next nine months, his life changed, and his faith deepened. He may have misspoken to the angel, but later, he spoke to his townsfolk with great joy and spiritual conviction. And for that, God rewarded him greatly.
Like Zechariah, we are men and women of little faith. So let’s all tell the Lord that we want to believe more deeply. Let’s ask him to remove our doubts.
“Father, your plans are always for good. Teach me, and give me a heart to follow you today without fear.”
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