We have finally reached the last day of Advent, and the Christmas celebration is upon us. The Church’s excitement has reached fever pitch as her anticipation of Christ’s coming is vividly expressed in the prayers of the liturgy. In the Collect prayer for Mass today it says, “Come quickly, we pray, Lord Jesus, and do not delay.” The Church has already waited for so long for the Savior’s coming and she clearly does not wish to wait any longer. This sense of longing and joyful expectation is captured perfectly in the Gospel reading today, which is commonly known as the Canticle of Zechariah. The Church has appropriated this prophetic prayer into her own daily prayer life every morning in the Liturgy of the Hours. It is a jubilant sigh of relief coming from the heart of a devout Jewish man who is keenly aware of the promises of God to the patriarchs throughout the centuries and of the long-suffering of his people Israel.
Only those who have felt the weight of their chains, especially slavery to sin, can truly appreciate today’s prayer of Zechariah. In the months leading up to the birth of his son John the Baptist, Zechariah has had to bear the burden of his silence. He had been punished for his lack of faith when he balked at the angel Gabriel, who appeared to him and told him that his wife Elizabeth would conceive in her old age and bear a son. He was rendered unable to speak until the time that his wife gave birth to John. During these months of silence, Zechariah surely had ample time to reflect upon many things. Effectively, he would have lived as a hermit or a monk, maintaining silence and meditating upon the incredible work that the Lord had accomplished in and through his wife. When Elizabeth was visited by the Blessed Virgin Mary, it is very likely that Elizabeth would have related this happy news to Zechariah and how she felt the child in her womb leap for joy in the presence of Mary and of the divine child that she was carrying. I would imagine that Zechariah pondered over all these events in his heart and even experienced a profound conversion of heart.
Once John the Baptist is born, the punishment is finally lifted, and Zechariah can speak once again. The first words that burst forth from his lips are praises and blessings directed to the Lord God. As he confirms to the people that his son is to be named John, he is filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit as he realizes the significance of his son’s role in the coming of the Messiah. The unborn child that caused his son to leap in the womb of Elizabeth is indeed the Savior that had been promised long ago. Before their very eyes, the Lord has fulfilled the promises He made to Abraham and to king David, that he would save them from their enemies. God proves His steadfast, covenantal love for His people by forgiving them their sins and remitting any sentence of judgment or condemnation against them. Zechariah understands that his son, John the Baptist, has been commissioned to go before the Lord to prepare his way, to make known to the people the mercy and tender compassion of our God, and to announce the coming of the Savior. Israel’s long, dark night of waiting and longing for the coming of the Lord and for his deliverance has finally ended. The darkness is dispersed by the dawn from on high, the Messiah, who comes to a people surrounded by darkness and guides them into the way of peace.
The Church continues to place this prayer of Zechariah on the lips of every person who prays daily the liturgy of the hours. As the sun rises in the morning sky, the Church prays constantly for the dawn from on high to break upon us, upon those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death. Every year, the Church recalls the immense joy of the first coming of Christ as an infant so that we might renew our hope in his glorious second coming. It is easy to become weary as we go through the trials, sorrows, and sufferings of this life. Too often we see so much darkness in the world that it can become suffocating: so much sin, violence, war, disease, sickness, persecution, division, ugliness, fear, anxiety, depression, and death. It can sometimes feel like we are still slaves to this darkness. Yet, the Church’s annual celebration of Advent and Christmas is a powerful reminder that the dawn has already broken upon us and the Savior, Jesus Christ, has come. He has accomplished the work of redemption and has set us free from these enemies of darkness.
Through the sacraments of the Church, we experience in a powerful way the great mercy and tender compassion of Our Lord, who has not come to condemn the world, but to save it. In fact, the Greek word that the Canticle of Zechariah uses for “tender compassion” is related to the English word for “bowels.” This means that Our Lord feels immense compassion for us in the very depths of his being. He sees our suffering and he shows us His mercy. We know that, with His coming, we no longer need to fear any evil, including death. We are called to proclaim with Zechariah, and with the Church, that God “has raised up for us a mighty Savior, born of the house of his servant David.” This proclamation of the Good News by our words and our charitable deeds is at the very heart of the Church’s mission of evangelization.
– Fr. Matthew Mary, MFVA