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Manila Bulletin devider Opinion devider Your prayer has been heard

Your prayer has been heard

Published Dec 18, 2023 11:15 pm

REFLECTIONS TODAY

Gird your loins

The old priest Zechariah and his barren wife Elizabeth remind us of the venerable patriarch Abraham and his barren wife Sarah. Luke certainly would also like to remind his readers of other “sons of promise” like Samson and Samuel.

In Spe Salvi, his encyclical on Christian hope, Pope Benedict XVI recalls the words of St. Paul: we have hope because we have God in the world, and we have Christ (cf Eph 2: 12). Jesus is the reason of our hope. Advent is a beautiful season of waiting and hoping.

Gospel • Luke 1:5-25 

In the days of Herod, King of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah… 

Once when he was serving as priest in his division’s turn before God... the angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right of the altar of incense. Zechariah was troubled by what he saw, and fear came upon him. 

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. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 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, and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. 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.” 

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. …

Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah and were amazed that he stayed so long in the sanctuary. 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. 

Then, when his days of ministry were completed, he went home. 

After this time his wife Elizabeth conceived, and she went into seclusion for five months, saying, “So has the Lord done for me at a time when he has seen fit to take away my disgrace before others.”

Source: “365 Days with the Lord 2023,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.

 

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