"Blessed Be The Lord"

Luke 1: 67-79

Zechariah’s Song

⁶⁷ His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

⁶⁸ “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
    because he has come to his people and redeemed them.
⁶⁹ He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
    in the house of his servant David
⁷⁰ (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
⁷¹ salvation from our enemies
    and from the hand of all who hate us—
⁷² to show mercy to our ancestors
    and to remember his holy covenant,
⁷³     the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
⁷⁴ to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
    and to enable us to serve him without fear
⁷⁵     in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

⁷⁶ And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
    for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
⁷⁷ to give his people the knowledge of salvation
    through the forgiveness of their sins,
⁷⁸ because of the tender mercy of our God,
    by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
⁷⁹ to shine on those living in darkness
    and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

The Canticle of Zechariah is prayed every morning at the conclusion of the Church's Morning Prayer, "LAUDS". Yes, we want to praise, to laud God for unfolding his plan which included his own baby boy, John as the herald, the preparer of the way for his cousin, Jesus, the Messiah. It is fitting that we focus on the beautiful canticle on Christmas Eve morning, to prepare our hearts for the celebration of Jesus's birth at midnight tonight, all day tomorrow and the week ahead, for that matter, in what is called "The Octave of Christmas."  This is the long awaited fulfillment of the promise that a Redeemer would come to reverse the sin of Adam and Eve and rectify our relationship with God. Now we can be "children of God" and heirs of heaven. Let  us use this final day of Advent to prepare our hearts to celebrate the birth of  the Savior and welcome him into our lives.

Lord, as we prepare to celebrate your birth, we echo the song of Zechariah: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has come to his people and set them free.” You come as our Savior to set us free, Lord. May we use this freedom to make your name known to all we encounter in our lives. Amen.

 Rev. Thomas McNally, C.S.C.