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.
After the angel Gabriel visited Zechariah and told him the child’s name will be John, Zechariah was speechless because, as Gabriel said, “because you did not believe my words.” In today’s Gospel, Zechariah is present at John’s circumcision. Elizabeth says that the child will be named John, at the moment Zechariah writes “John is his name” on a tablet, his tongue was freed and he began to speak, blessing God. All who heard these things were amazed and wondered what this might mean. They said of John, “What, then, will this child be? For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.” How do I remain open to seeing God’s work in the ordinary moments of the day?
God, help me understand today’s Gospel reading. Was Zechariah made speechless so that he could spend more time pondering your work in his life? I want to see your work in my life but am often carried through each day with the blinders of routine tasks and various to-do lists that must be completed. Grant me the grace to believe in your words and see your hand present in every moment of the day.
Lord, make clear to me today my path. Let me know that you alone are with me at all times. Free me from anything that would separate me from you. Stay with me!
From the O Antiphon for today: O Emmanuel, our King and Giver of Law: come to save us, Lord our God!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.