ADVENT Gospel for Thursday December 18 Fourth Week of Advent

 Luke 1:5-25

 Announcement of the Birth of John.

5 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. 6 Both were righteous in the eyes of God, observing all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. 8 Once when he was serving as priest in his division’s turn before God, 9 according to the practice of the priestly service, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord to burn incense. 10 Then, when the whole assembly of the people was praying outside at the hour of the incense offering, 11 the angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right of the altar of incense. 12 Zechariah was troubled by what he saw, and fear came upon him. 13 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. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 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, 16 and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 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.” 18 Then Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” 19 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. 20 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.”

21 Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah and were amazed that he stayed so long in the sanctuary. 22 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. 23 Then, when his days of ministry were completed, he went home. 24 After this time his wife Elizabeth conceived, and she went into seclusion for five months, saying, 25 “So has the Lord done for me at a time when he has seen fit to take away my disgrace before others.”

REFLECTION

 Struck mute by the Lord. Once again during this Advent journey, through Archangel Gabriel this time, the Holy Spirit makes a path for the Lord’s will in his own mysterious ways.

In the past, I always thought that the Holy Spirit was punishing Zechariah by making him mute but this time around I’m not so sure. Zechariah having been a priest and leader for a long time, is used to speaking important words that crowds listen to and obey. His priestly service also allows him exclusive access to the sanctuary. Perhaps Zechariah has become a little full of himself and some mistrust of the Lord might be creeping in. All this internal noise would make it difficult to hear the message brought by Gabriel. The angel reverts to a trusted tool – silence.

Silence has always been one of the Lord’s strongest tools for getting his message across. Having been struck mute gives Zachariah time out of the spotlight to do some deep listening. Rather than being punitive, in this Gospel story silence is a gift.

We might look for times in our lives when the Lord set us aside for a while to let his silence do its work on us. And, we might help Him out a bit this Advent by purposefully setting aside some time for silence.

Seeking some holy silence is akin to Mary’s response to the angel; “let it be done to me according to your will” Luke 1:38. We set ourselves open to infinite possibilities.  Silence, deep and long, allows us to hear what our place in God’s plan might be.

ANONYMOUS