Reading
Luke 1,57-66.80
57 When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.
59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, 60 but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”
61 They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”
62 Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. 63 He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. 65 All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. 66 Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him. 80 And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.
Comment
The greatest comfort we can have from our children is to place them in the hands of God. For this reason, circumcision, which has been replaced, in the new covenant, by Christian baptism, becomes an occasion of greater joy than the birth itself.
The Jewish custom was to give the child a name on the occasion of the circumcision, just as Abraham received a new name after having sanctioned the covenant with God through this external sign. Indeed, the Lord calls by name those entrusted to him, which means that he is not only generically the God of the multitude of the saved, but the Father of each one of us, whom we can call with this name by virtue of the personal and filial relationship that we have with him.
This relationship, inherent in a unique "new name", which is attributed to us is well represented by the dispute between Elizabeth and the friends and relatives who came to witness John's circumcision. They suggest calling him Zacharias, like his father, but she is opposed and moved by the Holy Spirit resolutely affirms that he will be called John.
By communicating with Zechariah by signs, the neighbors and relatives get the written answer that the child must be called John. Dumb and deaf, Zacharias cannot help but express God's will. When the Spirit speaks he knows how to make himself heard. This is what Jesus will say when the Pharisees scold the rejoicing crowd upon their entry into Jerusalem: "'if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out'" (Lk 19:40).
Once God's will for the child has been accomplished, Zechariah's tongue melts into a song of praise. John will arouse astonishment and his fame will spread throughout the surrounding regions from childhood, anticipating what he will get with the beginning of his prophetic ministry when crowds of sinners come to him in search of conversion. One would have expected to see John a priest like his father. But God's plans for him were different. He would become a prophet. The greatest of the prophets.
God loves us in our specificity and has a particular plan of salvation and holiness for each of us. Let us ask him for the grace to learn to be the best version of ourselves, rather than the draft of some saint.
Prayer
O God, who calls us by name, reveal your will to us and pour out your Spirit upon us, so that we may carry it out to the praise of your name. Amen.
- Rev. Dr. Luca Vona
