Friday, December 19, 2008

Friday of the Third Week of Advent


Readings for Friday of the Third Week of Advent[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible

Readings and Commentary:
[3]

Reading 1:
Judges 13:2-7, 24-25a

There was a certain man from Zorah, of the clan of the Danites,
whose name was Manoah.
His wife was barren and had borne no children.
An angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her,
“Though you are barren and have had no children,
yet you will conceive and bear a son.
Now, then, be careful to take no wine or strong drink
and to eat nothing unclean.
As for the son you will conceive and bear,
no razor shall touch his head,
for this boy is to be consecrated to God from the womb.
It is he who will begin the deliverance of Israel
from the power of the Philistines.”

The woman went and told her husband,
“A man of God came to me;
he had the appearance of an angel of God, terrible indeed.
I did not ask him where he came from, nor did he tell me his name.
But he said to me,
‘You will be with child and will bear a son.
So take neither wine nor strong drink, and eat nothing unclean.
For the boy shall be consecrated to God from the womb,
until the day of his death.’”

The woman bore a son and named him Samson.
The boy grew up and the LORD blessed him;
the Spirit of the LORD first stirred him.
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Commentary on
Jgs 13:2-7, 24-25a

This story from Judges appears to parallel the Christ story in a number of ways. First in the circumstances of the Israelites, who are under the rule of a foreign power, this time the Philistines. Next we are given divine intervention in the conception of a person who could be called a savior of the people, although not in the same terms of deity as Jesus. Sampson in a more conventional way was dedicated from the womb to be God’s servant and under the ancient rite was placed under the nazirite vow, which obliged him to abstain from drinking wine or having his hair cut; cf
Numbers 6:2-8.
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Responsorial Psalm:
[4] Psalm 71:3-4a, 5-6ab, 16-17

R. (see 8) My mouth shall be filled with your praise, and I will sing your glory!
Be my rock of refuge,
a stronghold to give me safety,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
O my God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked.
R. My mouth shall be filled with your praise, and I will sing your glory!
For you are my hope, O LORD;
my trust, O God, from my youth.
On you I depend from birth;
from my mother’s womb you are my strength.
R. My mouth shall be filled with your praise, and I will sing your glory!
I will treat of the mighty works of the LORD;
O God, I will tell of your singular justice.
O God, you have taught me from my youth,
and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.
R. My mouth shall be filled with your praise, and I will sing your glory!
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Commentary on
Ps 71:3-4a, 5-6ab, 16-17

Psalm 71 is the lament of an old person whose afflictions are considered to be divine judgment. The focus of this passage is on the dedication of this person to God from birth and follows the theme established above in Judges. Here we are told of the faithfulness of one so dedicated.

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Gospel:
Luke 1:5-25

In the days of Herod, King of Judea,
there was a priest named Zechariah
of the priestly division of Abijah;
his wife was from the daughters of Aaron,
and her name was Elizabeth.
Both were righteous in the eyes of God,
observing all the commandments
and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly.
But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren
and both were advanced in years.

Once when he was serving as priest
in his division’s turn before God,
according to the practice of the priestly service,
he was chosen by lot
to enter the sanctuary of the Lord to burn incense.
Then, when the whole assembly of the people was praying outside
at the hour of the incense offering,
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.”

Then Zechariah said to the angel,
“How shall I know this?
For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.”
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.
But now you will be speechless and unable to talk
until the day these things take place,
because you did not believe my words,
which will be fulfilled at their proper time.”
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.”
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Commentary on
Lk 1:5-25

The Gospel from St. Luke today gives us the story of Zechariah receiving the news that he is to have a son with his wife Elizabeth. It is clear that this story bears much in common with the story we heard in Judges about the conception of Sampson. Elizabeth was also barren; both conceptions were announced by angles, although in the case of Zechariah, the angle was one of the three named archangels, Gabriel. Both children were dedicated to God from the womb but St. John the Baptist, whose tale this is, was given a specific task and labeled from the womb as a great prophet; “He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah.”In the final verses, Elizabeth, we are told, goes into seclusion with praise to God for having given her the gift of her child. This statement reflects the societal view of that period that women who could not have children were being punished by God and therefore had some hidden sin; “…he has seen fit to take away my disgrace before others.”

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Reflection:

We have added the pink Candle of Joy to the candles of Love and Hope bearing witness to the Light of Christ.

As the great author Origen said we hear the “Voice” before we hear the “Word”. St. John the Baptist called himself the “Voice of one crying out in the wilderness” (Luke 3:4). It is somewhat ironic that the father of the “Voice” should have his voice taken from him for his unbelief. Think though of the impact the return of his power of speech must have been. He had been mute for over nine months (We are told he completed his term at the temple before returning to Elizabeth at which time she conceived. He was not able to speak again until he named his son “John” as the archangel Gabriel had commanded.) That silence must have seemed to Zachariah like the world holding its breath as it waited for the herald’s voice.

We can guess at the affect this imposed silence had on Zachariah and Elizabeth. For Zachariah he had time to contemplate the gift of speech. He had time to think about what Gabriel had said to him; that his son was to be great in the eyes of the Lord and that many would come to believe in God because of him.

As a member of the priestly class, Zachariah would have known the prophecy of the Messiah. He would surly have been struck by the reference to Elijah in Gabriel’s description of his yet unborn son. Would he have given something away about the prophecy; that Elijah would come in spirit, fulfilling the prophecy of the forerunner to the Messiah – that God’s plan was about to be brought to fulfillment? Did he see the parallel between his own situation and that of the parents of Samson? He must certainly have known that story as well.

As we approach the great Feast of the Nativity of the Lord how are we impacted by this story? What lessons do we take away from Zachariah, the priest who did not believe when Gabriel came to him? What impulse stirs in us as we hear of Elizabeth, barren and ashamed before her peers because of the perceived punishment from God; suddenly blessed with a miraculous gift of life?

Beyond the heightened sense of expectation for what comes next; for following the “Voice” comes the “Word”, we also see that God does not pick the high and exalted as his instruments. He chooses the ordinary and reveals himself and his plan to those who are prepared for the Word. As St. Luke said the Voice would “prepare a people fit for the Lord.”

The time of the Nativity draws near and we are once more reminded that we inherit some part of the ministry of the Voice – we too are called to make straight the path of the Lord. Our prayer today must be that the Voice and the Word accomplish that mission within us.

Pax

Semper Gaudete

[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture used today is “The Holy Family with St. Elizabeth and the Infant St. John the Baptist” by Bartolomeo Passerotti, 1572
[3] Text of Readings is taken from the New American Bible, Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
[4] Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved

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