REFLECTIONS TODAY
Every birth entails a mission. In ancient Rome, the predictive power of a person’s name was captured by the Latin proverb “Nomen est omen,” meaning, the name is a sign. Yehoshua, the Hebrew name of Jesus (and Joshua, the successor of Moses), means “Yahweh (God) is salvation.” The name given to the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth is Yohanan (John), meaning “God is gracious.” John is a gift by the Lord to the old couple. From the angel Gabriel, Zechariah knows that his son “will go before him (the Lord) 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” (Lk 1:17).
Pope Francis explains the role of parents in discovering and understanding God’s purpose in the birthing of a child: “Every child is the bearer of a unique mystery that can only be brought to light with the help of a father who respects that child’s freedom” (Patris Corde, 7). Do we try to discover the purpose and mission of each child that is born into the world?
First Reading • Mal 3:1-4, 23-24
Thus says the Lord God: Lo, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me; And suddenly there will come to the temple the Lord whom you seek, And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Yes, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who will endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears? For he is like the refiner’s fire, or like the fuller’s lye. He will sit refining and purifying silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, Refining them like gold or like silver that they may offer due sacrifice to the Lord. Then the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem will please the Lord, as in the days of old, as in years gone by.
Lo, I will send you Elijah, the prophet, Before the day of the Lord comes, the great and terrible day, To turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the land with doom.
Gospel • Lk 1:57-66
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.”
Source: “366 Days with the Lord 2024,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: [email protected]. Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.