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.” (Lk 1:5-25)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121922.cfm
Luke’s Infancy Narrative is a double experience: two annunciations (to Zechariah and to Mary), two nativities (John the Baptist and Jesus), two hymns of praise (Zechariah’s Benedictus and Mary’s Magnificat. But what a contrast in the two annunciation stories, the priest who fails to believe, and the young girl who says “Let it be done to me as you said.” And what a fitting punishment for a priest: to be mute, until the child is born! Come, Lord Jesus, come, do not delay!
These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.
Monday, Week IV, Advent—O ROOT OF JESSE, December 19
