The Gospel for December 24, 2004
Luke 1:67-80
His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke this prophecy: Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has visited his people, he has set them free, and he has established for us a saving power in the House of his servant David, just as he proclaimed, by the mouth of his holy prophets from ancient times, that he would save us from our enemies and from the hands of all those who hate us, and show faithful love to our ancestors, and so keep in mind his holy covenant. This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham, that he would grant us, free from fear, to be delivered from the hands of our enemies, to serve him in holiness and uprightness in his presence, all our days. And you, little child, you shall be called Prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare a way for him, to give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the faithful love of our God in which the rising Sun has come from on high to visit us, to give light to those who live in darkness and the shadow dark as death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace. Meanwhile the child grew up and his spirit grew strong. And he lived in the desert until the day he appeared openly to Israel. -- The New Jerusalem Bible. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1995, c1985
A Study
This text carries out the next step in the plan laid out for Zechariah when he was confronted by the angel and doubted the angel's message. It seems now that he has believed what he was told.
A Reflection
I have to wonder what John Baptist's leave-taking must have been like, as he departed for the desert. Was it in any way like the mini-confrontation that Jesus had with Mary and Joseph when they returned for him after leaving him in Jerusalem?
For that matter, when Jesus took off to meet John at the Jordan to be baptized, what were his words to his mother and siblings?
We know how our own departings went. Some were quick, others were long in the making, others became final when we thought them only temporary.
I don't know anyone who left home "on a mission" like Jesus' or John's missions. Did either really know what he was in for? When I consider how many surprises I've had over my lifetime, intending one outcome and experiencing quite another, I have to think that neither of these men was completely prepared for what was to come.
Jesus always had the right answer -- often to the question that should have been asked -- but he seems sometimes surprised; remember the woman whom he initially shunned as not being an Israelite, who finally persuaded him that even the puppies under the table get some crumbs?
I thought today to reflect on how it feels now that the waiting of Advent is concluding, but I don't think that celebrating the Incarnation's anniversary really brings waiting to a close. This Advent, more than any other, has made me conscious that we are always waiting for the next coming, whether it is apochryphal or one of those great moments of spirituality.
When we think that Advent is over, we've lost the expectancy that marks us as His.
A Collect
Father, you came to us in great humility as one of us. Grant that we may offer our hearts to you in humble service; through Jesus, your Christ, our Lord. Amen
5:24:26 PM 
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