Wednesday of
Late Advent
December 23, 2015 8:30am
In the background to today’s
gospel, the angel Gabriel tells Zechariah that his wife Elizabeth will give birth
to a son.
Zechariah questions and does not
at first believe.
Because of this, Gabriel says that
Zechariah will be mute, unable to speak until the child is born.
One commentator says that
rendering Zechariah temporarily mute was not a punishment, but rather an
opportunity for him to reflect.
He needed to reflect on his faith
and his relationship with God.
He needed to come to place more trust
in God and God’s word.
Then, in today’s passage,
Elizabeth gives birth and the issue of naming the child arises.
Elizabeth says that the child’s
name will be John.
This is the name that Gabriel had
told Zechariah to give the child, but there is no indication that Zechariah
ever communicated this to Elizabeth.
So Elizabeth’s naming the child
John is another indication of the hand of God at work.
In some way, God also
communicated this name to Elizabeth.
Then, Zechariah confirms this
name and immediately, he is able to speak.
The idea is that in the months of
being mute, he has reflected and grown in faith.
His confirming the name John is
in effect an act of faith.
And now with faith, he is able to
speak.
Perhaps the insight for us is that
without faith, what we have to say is quite limited.
We are all in effect mute if we
lack faith and trust in God.
With faith and trust in God, we
have much to say and much to offer one another for the journey of human life.
That is my reflection on this
morning’s beautiful gospel story.
