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Theo Tigno•
6/23/2010 9:41 pm
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Thursday, June 24th 2010 |
Luke 1: 57-66, 80
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. The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel.
Dawg's Thought:
Today's prayer intention - for the Catholic Health Association to be obedient to the bishops' request.
A few years ago, when I was talking to the vocations director of the Diocese of Phoenix at the time, he had some great advise for me. One of the key things I remember him saying is that most people think that priests have the hardest time with the vow of chastity the most, yet the priests he has talked to struggle the most with obedience.
Zechariah is a great reminder of this. When the Archangel Gabriel went to proclaim the good news, he doubted and was made mute. In today's reading, his act of obedience freed him.
How many of us have chosen acts of disobedience only to be shackled by it? Over past few weeks I have chosen to go back to driving the speed limit and something happened: I felt like I was free to drive in peace. When I was bent on driving as fast as I could through traffic, I was shackled by my disordered desire to get to my destination in the shortest time possible.
We have been blessed with so many gifts. God wants us to be free to love and serve Him and our neighbor, and we should never use these gifts to go against His desire. Anything less would be like Zechariah, who lost use of his mouth after doubting God with it.
Rather, let us be good stewards of our gifts like John the Baptist, who may not have had much, but was obedient to God's will even in his mother's womb. Take care and God Bless.
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