December 19/Third Friday of Advent
He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb. ~ Luke 1.15
Any mother who has experienced the exuberant athleticism of a baby in the womb – kicking, flipping, dancing, giving the occasional sharp elbow to the ribs – and then watched that baby grow to adulthood also knows that each of her children is born with a set of particular characteristics that are his or hers alone, that are present even before birth. The exhausting and joyous work of parenthood is to nurture and cherish each child’s individual temperaments and gifts. Those gifts may not match our own: Zechariah and Elizabeth would learn that their son was not to follow in his father’s footsteps as a temple priest. As the angel who appeared to Zechariah noted in today’s Gospel, and as those of us blessed with faith believe, these wondrous inborn characteristics of our children are God-given. Here is the psalmist of Psalm 139, praising our divine origins: “It was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Each of us, like Samson or John the Baptist in today’s readings, is consecrated to God “from the womb.” Just as each of us has a unique fingerprint, and a unique gait, so our individual vocation is unlike anyone else’s. It may be to teach, to heal, to pursue justice, to care for the elderly or the poor. It may be to write, paint, compose, or dance in ways that make the soul sing. It may be, as it was for John the Baptist, to “turn the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous” (as apt a description of parenting as I know!). But wherever our gifts lead us, we are all summoned to do our part to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
Lord of all creation, help me respond to your call by using the gifts you have given me to your greater glory. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121925.cfm
To hear “The Great Forerunner of the Morn,” John Mason Neale’s 19th-century translation of the Latin hymn, Praecursor Altus Luminis by the Venerable Bede (b.673), click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pmi2KAbPe6M
