December 19, 2025, Friday of the Third Week of Advent
Lectionary #195, Luke 1: 5-25
Scripture
In the days of Herod, King of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah from the priestly division of Abijah; his wife, Elizabeth, was from the daughters of Aaron. Both were righteous in the eyes of God,
Observing all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren and both were advanced in years.
Once when he was serving as priest in his division’s turn before God, according to the practice of the priestly service, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord to burn incense. Then, when the whole assembly of the people was praying outside at the hour of the incense offering, the angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right of the altar of incense. Zechariah was troubled by what he saw, and fear came upon him.
But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He will drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb, and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers toward children and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord.”
Then Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” And the angel said to him in reply, “I am Gabriel, who stand before God. I was sent to speak to you and to announce to you this good news. But now you will be speechless and unable to talk until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time.” Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah and were amazed that he stayed so long in the sanctuary. But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He gestured to them but remained silent.
Then, when his days of ministry were completed, he went home.
After this time his wife Elizabeth conceived, and she went into seclusion for five months, saying, “So has the Lord done for me at a time when he has seen fit to take away my disgrace before others.”
Reflection
The Bible is undoubtedly the most unified and consistent book in the world. It has one theme, and only one: God’s pursuit of humans. God constantly reminds them that they are near, very close. “No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe” (Deuteronomy 30: 14).
It is also a strange book with a peculiar story because the pursued rarely get to believe the Pursuer. People can’t be convinced that God is so taken up with them as to assume the role of the everlasting Suitor. They have placed the furthest possible distance between themselves and God, who is always viewed as `above” and far away.
God seeks people out and craves their involvement. Our reading bears this out. God intervenes in our history, in the real world of men and women who lived at a specific time: “In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
The appearance of the “angel of the Lord,” who in the Old Testament was endowed with enormous power as God’s special envoy, is a sign that this time God wants to break through and come to earth. A messenger is dispatched, speaks to people, and gives promises. God comes to earth, not for the first time but for the first time in such a personal and sensitive fashion. The initiative comes from God, who is the persistent Pursuer.
And so it is that God does not merely come nearer. God was already near. God was as near to us as our own hearts, or as someone once wrote, as “close to us as hands and feet.” Now people come to know that God is close. Then “the angel of the Lord” speaks, and the angel’s first words are, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard.”
The reason for the angel’s appearance is to announce the birth of John the Baptist. But the approach and the manner are special in that they are respectful and cordial. The angel appears and dispels Zechariah’s fear. The passage is suffused with joy and a kind of shared pleasure. God, the angel, is obviously pleased to announce the end of Elizabeth’s barrenness and the birth of a son who will be the forerunner of the Messiah.
The cordiality is generous, and the communication is not only done in words but in abundant deeds. The angel declares John the Baptist “even before his birth… will be filled with the Holy Spirit.” This annunciation of the birth of John the Baptist is addressed to Zechariah, but the Gospel of Luke speaks to all who read it, or rather, God speaks to those who read the Word of God.
This God lavishes the divine presence not only in word and promise but also in personal communication with people. La Salette, while not on a par with the Word of God, also has one purpose: to remind the peoples of the world of God’s affectionate presence within each person.
Just as the angel quickly dispels Zechariah’s fear, so the Virgin at La Salette dispels the children’s fear. When fear is gone, then she speaks, as the angel does in the gospel. The angel also dispelled the Virgin’s fear at the Annunciation: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” Such apparitions are bound to inspire fear. But the scriptures abound in dispelling abject fear and replacing it with confident worship and respect. For good or ill, our personal “portrait” of God will color the fabric of our lives.
La Salette is one more sign that God still seeks out those whom the Lady called “my people.”
La Salette Invocation
Our Lady of La Salette, reconciler of sinners,
pray without ceasing for us who have recourse to you.
