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Gospel: Luke 1:57-80
“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.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Nearly every birth in the Bible is about the parents as much as it is the child.
Consider the difference in the parental reactions between the birth of Jesus and the birth of John the Baptist, whose feast day we celebrate today.
Both were foretold by the Angel Gabriel and both seemed unlikely: Mary, a virgin, and Zechariah’s wife, Elizabeth, was elderly and barren.
While Mary believed what Gabriel told her, Zechariah’s heart was clouded by doubt.
“How can this be?” he says. “For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.”
Zechariah didn’t believe in the impossible. So, Gabriel strikes him mute, preventing him from saying another word until he holds his child, John, in his arms.
***
This is a lesson learned throughout scripture: God can do extraordinary things.
Yet how often do we question the Lord like Zechariah did, favoring human logic over the power of the divine?
“Lord, time is running out. Will you answer me?”
“How can I carry this cross?”
“How can I climb the mountain before me?”
***
I asked a similar question upon arriving here at St. Pius X. “Lord, how can I renew this parish? We’re in the middle of a pandemic!”
Yet look at what the Lord has already done – and is still doing today. Our ministries are expanding; Mass attendance is growing; faith and excitement are oozing out of many.
Like Zechariah, we’re being invited to trust that God is doing the impossible right in front of us.
And we’re all part of his plan.
***
What seems impossible in my own life? Where have I hit a roadblock?
***
God can break barriers and open doors. But first we should believe.
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Image credits: (1) When God Does the Impossible, beWarm (2) Gospel Images – Birth of Isaac (3) Wildens Infant Christ and Saint John
