In this section you can find a daily commentary on the Gospel of the Day.

Friday 24 December 2021

Weekday of Advent

Word for the morning
The Gospel of Luke 1:67-79

Benedictus

Zechariah, priest of Jerusalem temple, spouse of Elizabeth, cousin of Mary of Nazareth, didn't believe the angel's words: Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name it John (Luke 1: 13). His disbelief in the Word made him not only dumb in his speech (Luke 1: 12) but also deaf to sound (Luke 1: 62). What makes dumb and useless our inner dialogue, and deaf our understanding, our inner intelligence, is the mind's need to look for things' reasons, events' whys, it's the mind's need to ask how it will be. Zechariah way of thinking, same as ours, couldn't really bear, not even before the message of an angel, not to know the why and how; it couldn't bear not to have the situation in control, even before God. The Benedictus is the song that Zechariah, father of the Baptist, son of God, full of Holy Spirit, sang after having had his tongue and ears loosened up again the day of his son circumcision. It's the song of the one who, after having lived a life of religion as a priest, is now experiencing what faith's decision and bright strength are. God made Zechariah understand, with strength and peace, that, after having been dealing with God for his entire life, he hadn't yet learnt what letting conflict, suspect and a non-faith go from his heart was. It's the song of the one who, thanks to the Spirit, decided to decide, to get out of the quicksand of indecision, of the dark tides of the whys, buts, hows, ifs.
Zechariah the priest truly became man of God, the man of religion eventually became a loving servant, he loosened every knot and tension, every pride and resentment with the power of faith, humble and grateful faith, which accepts from God's hands the present, the whole present right as it is and not as it should be, without asking why and how anymore. This lesson is a lesson that we all have to learn, otherwise our all being and we all will suffer dumbness and deafness. If mankind doesn't learn to have faith it will remain suspicious and doubtful in its heart and mind, and it will continue to miss and waste its entire life in sadness and fear, asking itself why, how, who's fault is, who won, who's lost, missing God's present, God's Holy will and love.
Most powerful, imperative, doubtless is the answer of the angel Gabriel to Zechariah 's indecision, why, how: I am Gabriel, who stands before God. I was sent to speak to you and announce to you this good news. But now you will be speechless and unable to talk until the day these thing takes place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time (Luke 1: 19-20)
As to say: wake up Zechariah, yours whys and hows, fruit of your pride and need of being in control, are not only embarassing and silly but they also don't allow you to recognize the power of the present moment, the divine quality of the being you're in front of, the extraordinary meaning of the event you're living. Zechariah's song is the song of someone converted from religion to faith, from suspect to love, and it has the tone and structure of a prophecy, a prophecy about Jesus ( Luke 1: 67). Every morning, at dawn, the church sings Jesus, daybreak from on high, it sings its faith in the One who raises from Orient, the only one who shines on those who sit in darkness and death’s shadow: the Living One! Singing the Benedictus is singing the faith in God's Light that fights the darkness of non-knowing, the tartar of suspect about God, the pride of death.