December 23rd
EMMANUEL, God with us, our King and Lawgiver, the expected of the nations and their Saviour: come to save us, O Lord our God
Today the focus of our Gospel is once again John the Baptist: friends and family gather with Elizabeth to ‘share her joy’ (Lk 1: 58) in the birth of this unexpected son. At his naming ceremony they assume that he will be named after his father, Zechariah who made it quite explicit as he wrote ‘his name is John’ (Lk 1: 63)-this very fitting as the name means ‘God’s gracious gift.’ In that simple act of submission to the will of God, the pride and arrogance of Zachariah is freed, and he can talk again. In regaining the gift of speech ‘he spoke and praised God. All their neighbours were filled with awe and the whole affair was talked about throughout the hill country of Judea’ (L 1: 64-65). When we NAME somebody, the relationship becomes very special: I will always remember the time when a friend called me ‘Gerry’ for the first time instead of using my title, ‘Father’; it may seem a little thing, but it was so special and made me realise that we were now friends and could dispense with anything that could get in the way of that true friendship. In our Gospel today, Zachariah realises his lack of faith and trust in God, while Elizabeth simply lives it; their tiny infant will grow up to challenge and to prepare the world for the Emmanuel, to help us to realise that God is indeed with us. As you walk this Advent Camino today, with Christmas Day just around the corner, I pray that your faith and trust be like that of Elizabeth: you CAN do great things today because the ‘hand of God’ (Lk 1: 66) is with you too.
Today: bring your family and friends before God and NAME each one of them-perhaps you can light a candle for them
We can pray:
Lord, thank you for the goodness in my life and for giving me my name. When I wake each morning, I praise Your name! You have given me life that is filled with beauty, and the breath in my lungs is a gift from You. I pray that You will fill my day with love and sustenance. And may I remember at the end of each of my days, to thank you for all that has been placed in my life.
