God Knows Best

 Luke 1: 57-66

The Birth of John the Baptist

⁵⁷ When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. ⁵⁸ Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

⁵⁹ On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, ⁶⁰ but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”

⁶¹ They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”

⁶² Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. ⁶³ He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” ⁶⁴ Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. ⁶⁵ All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. ⁶⁶ Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.

This Gospel passage brings to mind an earlier section when Zechariah doubted Gabriel's announcement that a child would be born us of barren wife. He now believed, insisted the child be named John, and began to speak again. 

So many times we find the Zechariah in us causing us to hesitate, doubt, even refuse to believe.  The huge blizzard sweeping the nation, with its untold hardship,especially on the Pine Ridge Reservation where people are burning their clothes to keep warm, not only makes it hard to enter "the Christmas Spirit" but also wonder WHY things are SO BAD. The howling winds, the frigid temperatures remind us of our powerlessness,  cause us to beg for help, to rely on others to rescue us, and, yes, hopefully to turn to God for deliverance.  May we realize and accept that we need God's help, and may this storm, in God's wisdom and plans that are beyond us, bring us to the humble recognition that he knows best!  Come, Lord Jesus!

Bro. Rene

Lord, we hear in today’s Gospel about the birth of John the Baptist. He was to go before you, clearing the way and lighting up the path you were to follow. Now it is our turn to prepare the way for others to find you by the way we lead our lives. Give us the courage and zeal of John to do so. Amen.

 Rev. Thomas McNally, C.S.C.