Inspiration for your journey to God!

Category: Advent (Page 5 of 20)

Too caught up to encounter

too caught up to encounter
Zechariah at the Visitation

Too caught up to encounter. The story of the angel Gabriel appearing to Zechariah reveals something I think we can all relate to. It reveals a “righteous” person’s inability to recognize God’s call. It reveals a lack of faith that God can answer prayer.

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. 

the messenger

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.” 

disbelief

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.

she knows

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.”

too caught up

As you know, I’ve been journeying with Joseph through this Advent with my Rejoice Advent Meditations. So, it would seem logical that my first inclination was to compare Zechariah’s reaction to the angel with Joseph’s reaction to the angel in his dream.

I think Zechariah was too caught up to encounter God. Let me explain. Zechariah was a priest. Judging from the responsibility of our priests today, I would venture to guess Zechariah was extremely busy. As a priest, he bore the responsibility of serving his division according to the rules and laws of the time.

On the other hand Joseph, a carpenter, recognized the message of an angel in his dream. He recalled the Scripture he knew so well and recognized it’s fulfillment in his current predicament.

Zechariah seemed quite distracted from the present moment by his responsibility. Isn’t it hard to believe that Zechariah would doubt the angel, given his position? But he did. He lacked faith and was too caught up to encounter God. Joseph, on the other hand, was a man of deep faith who encountered God even in his dreams.

can you relate?

Who do you relate to? Are you like Zechariah? Maybe too caught up in religious rules and laws or too caught up in the busy-ness of the life you’ve created to truly encounter God? Do you lack faith?

Are you like Joseph? Do you give yourself time and space to actually encounter God – to feel His Presence and hear his voice?

one last thing

When I talk about encountering God, not only am I talking about our personal relationship with God but also our encounter with God through our interaction with others. Do we see them? Can we hear them? Are we compassionate toward them? Think of how good it feels to be seen, heard and understood. God bless you!

O Root
O Flower of Jesse’s stem, you have been raised up as a sign for all peoples; kings stand silent in your presence; the nations bow down in worship before you. Come, let nothing keep you from coming to our aid.

This is how the birth of Jesus came about

the birth of jesus
The birth of Jesus!

This is how the birth of Jesus came about! Today I’d like you to imagine yourself in the scene of Matthew 1:18-24.

The birth of jesus

Now this how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through then holy Spirit. Joseph, her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her.” She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. He had no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him Jesus.

wwyd?

Put yourself in Joseph’s shoes. What do you feel when you find out your spouse is expecting a child that is not biologically yours? Do you feel angry, confused, betrayed, devastated? Are you willing to hear your spouse’s side of the story? Do you rush to judgment? Do you react on impulse and immediately decide it’s over, no questions asked?

take two

Two lessons from this Gospel today: First, acting on impulse stifles the Spirit. What do I mean by that? Often when we act impulsively, we’re not thinking straight. We’re not giving ourselves enough time to logically and intelligently act – to be guided by the Spirit. This Gospel reinforced the necessity of sitting with our issues and praying about them in order to discern God’s plan and intention for us.

What a great example we have in Joseph. He humbly accepted what was to be and actively participated in God’s plan for his life. Joseph said YES, as Mary did, even though it wasn’t what he desired or expected for himself. He was able to do this because he did not act on impulse.

Second, Joseph was “in tune” with the prompting of the Spirit. His knowledge of Scripture played an important role in his recognizing the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. He knew that what was happening in his life, as difficult as it was, was ordained by God. How often do we consider Scripture when caught in a bind? Do we relate to Scripture as Joseph did?

o adonai

The church revisits this Gospel again this Sunday. There’s so much more I would like share but I’ll wait until then. For now, I’ll end with tonight’s O Antiphon:

O sacred Lord of ancient Israel, who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush, who gave him the holy law on Sinai mountain; come, stretch out your mighty hand to set us free.

God bless you!

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