Daily Gospel Reflection
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December 23, 2024
When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child
she gave birth to a son.
Her neighbors and relatives heard
that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her,
and they rejoiced with her.
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.
Then fear came upon all their neighbors,
and all these matters were discussed
throughout the hill country of Judea.
All who heard these things took them to heart, saying,
“What, then, will this child be?
For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.”
One evening at Mass, I prayed for my wife and our unborn daughter. While reading the first book of Samuel, I heard Hannah’s honest prayer to God. I was so inspired that I hoped to name our future daughter after her to emulate that courage, piety, and self-sacrifice.
Fast forward through life, and there she was—a beautiful baby girl. My wife looked at me with tears in her eyes and asked what we should name our child. I yielded to her, as it is only right that she, after giving life to our daughter, have the right to name her. She looked at the nurse and proudly exclaimed, “Grace!” which is exactly what God intended. (It also just so happens that the name Grace is a derivative of Hannah.)
Elizabeth was barren, but like the many women in sacred Scripture before her, such as Hannah, God heard her, God saw her, and nothing is impossible for God. Although he was extremely pious, Zechariah experienced a moment of doubt, and for that he was made speechless. After following the prescription of the law, Elizabeth proclaimed that her son will be named John, and upon confirming that is what the Angel Gabriel revealed to him, Zechariah’s mouth was opened.
What does he do with his regained speech? He glorifies God, proclaiming righteous praise. See, Elizabeth and Zechariah demonstrate properly ordered obedience to the will of God. They hand their lives and their son’s life completely over to God. It is through this obedience that they clearly see what God has in store for their son: to prepare the way for Jesus, to go out into the world to boldly proclaim repentance, and to witness, in the truest sense of the word, to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
As Christmas nears, may we cultivate obedience and hand ourselves completely over to Jesus, who, from the moment of his birth, was on the road to the cross in order to reconcile the world to himself for the sake of our salvation.
Prayer
Eternal Father, you chose John the Baptist to proclaim your glory and salvation to all the world. We yearn to glorify you, yet we realize all too well that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Let our hearts be ever consumed with zeal for your house, and may your Holy Spirit free us from all anxiety in spreading the good news through our words and actions. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. John Cantius was a brilliant Polish scholar who cultivated a life of holiness just as much as he cultivated the life of his mind.
He was born 1390 in Poland, and attended Krakow Academy, where he eventually earned a doctorate. He was ordained a priest three years after graduating, and went on to teach sacred Scripture and physics. His work helped pave the way for insights from Galileo and Newton.
He was a popular professor, and some of his colleagues were jealous of his rapport with students. They spread false rumors about him, and he was moved to a parish in a remote, small town. He was terrified of his new role, but took it seriously, working diligently and patiently with the people to whom he was assigned. It took eight years for his name to be cleared, and when it was time for him to return to the university, the people from the small parish mourned his loss—they followed him out of town for several miles, asking him to remain with them.
John made four pilgrimages from Poland, traveling by foot to Rome three times and once to the Holy Land. He was known for a simple lifestyle—he only possessed and ate what he needed, and gave generously to the poor.
The story is told that once, as he sat down to his dinner, John saw a beggar passing by in the street. He stood up and immediately went outside with his bowl of food and gave it to the beggar, saying nothing.
“Fight all error,” he would tell his students, “but do it with good humor, patience, kindness, and love. Harshness will damage your own soul and spoil the best cause.”
John died at the age of 83, and his tomb remains a popular pilgrimage place in Krakow.
St. John Cantius, you were the professor who made your life a study in holiness, pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. John Cantius is available for use under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Last accessed November 7, 2024 on Wikimedia Commons.
