Fifteen years ago, in the middle of a major ice storm, my first grandson was born. We brought him home from the hospital on Christmas Eve. As I watched my six-foot son so very carefully carry his son into the house through the snow, Christmas took on a new, a richer meaning. The natural family love and riveting attention that surround a new baby transferred from our experience, our family, back to the Holy Land that first Christmas.
That grandson is six feet tall himself now, but the feelings of hope, of joy, of trust in God that poured over me on Christmas, 2004, return as I picture Zechariah, Elizabeth, and little baby John in today’s Gospel.
Zechariah
It had been almost a year since Zechariah saw the vision in the temple, was told that he and Elizabeth would conceive a child, and became mute. It had been about three months since Elizabeth’s cousin Mary came to stay with them. Mary had been a big help to Elizabeth! Zechariah listened to their conversations as Elizabeth filled out with child. There was such a joy in Mary and Elizabeth as they cared for each other and for him.
Because of the angel’s message, Zechariah had quieted his fears about the birth. Even though, in those days, one in five women died in childbirth and Elizabeth was “past child-bearing age,” he thought, “surely, when the Lord has sent his messengers and blessed us so, all will be well. Elizabeth will be safe. John will be healthy.”
Elizabeth was safe. John was healthy. Yes, indeed, John had a healthy set of lungs! Zechariah thought of the angel’s message, “And he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” (Luke 1: 16-17)
Yes, his son’s cry had a fervor to it that spoke of the strength and the power of the Lord! Zechariah could believe he would be a prophet.
The Eighth Day
It was the custom to circumcise a baby eight days after birth. Circumcision was a small cut with a very sharp flint. Jewish law called for it for all male children. It was a sign of dedication of the child to God. With the circumcision, God claimed the child.
Today was the day. The neighbors came. Once the child was circumcised, he would be named. Zechariah heard the elders talking about the name. They suggested Zechariah. Zechariah was disturbed by that. The angel had told him to name the child John. That’s what Elizabeth told them. “Not so, his name shall be John.” This departed from custom. What should they do? They could tell Zechariah had an opinion about this. He was making gestures for a writing tablet. They brought him one. Zechariah wrote, “His name is John.”
Then Zechariah’s mouth opened and he praised God. His canticle of praise was so beautiful that it is said every morning by the universal church in the Liturgy of the Hours. It is the Gospel for mass in the morning of Christmas Eve. In case you don’t get to read it for tomorrow, it is the prayer at the end of this reflection.
Zechariah, Elizabeth, John, and Us
Carl Sandburg, the American poet, said, “A baby is God’s opinion that life should go on.” In the context around this famous quote, Sandburg noted that no machine, no invention of modernity, no accomplishment of technology, equals the intricacy and complexity of a newborn child.
Nothing equals a baby’s capacity to call forth love, too. We waited seven years for our first child. We so longed for him. Yet, when he came, Alan and I soon learned that babies take a lot of work. They rule the house. To paraphrase a saying, “If baby’s unhappy, ain’t nobody happy.” Babies naturally strip away selfishness, laziness, rigidity, and probably a thousand other faults. They do it without our noticing. We forget ourselves, only to realize in the middle of some colicky night, “Life is deeper now. Richer. More exciting. Love is required everywhere….And it’s wonderful!” Our children move us from a couple to a family…in a delightful way.
Babies bond families together—with their smiles, the beauty of their sleeping, with their wide eyes and open arms that reach out. They often heal old family wounds. They create multiple conversions in their parents (and grandparents and siblings) as we hold them in the night, watch them all the day, and enter a whole new level of loving through the gateway for God they create.
They are joyful evidence of God’s opinion that life should go on….and the path through which many of us ordinary folks build the kingdom of God.
Smiles
On Saturday Pope Francis had the smiles of children on his mind. He specifically talked about looking at babies and seeing the smile of Jesus. He said,
“Jesus is the smile of God. He came to reveal to us the love and goodness of our heavenly Father. We need God’s smile to strip us of our false certainties and to bring us back to enjoying simplicity and gratitude.”
Yes! God’s smile and the smiles of all the little ones God gives us. Not every child is born into a family of love. Not every loving family is smiling today. Not every child conceived is even born. There are so many troubles in the world. But, it seems to me, it is most of all in that context that God smiles in every newborn child. Every child is a gift from God of life and of all that that life can create in this world. Newborns grow up to be six feet tall. And the love invested in a child bears fruit–for them, for us, for God.
Blessed Christmas to everyone.
Zechariah’s Prayer:
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
for he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty Savior,
born of the house of his servant David.
Through his prophets he promised of old
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the hand of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.
You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
to give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1: 67-79)
