We are at the crossroads
"John is his name" (Lk 1: 63)
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." (Lk 1: 57-66)
Everything happens according to the message given by the Archangel Gabriel to Zechariah. For months, he was able to meditate on what had happened in the divinely-given silence of his muteness. He was liberated from his doubts and human fears, faithfully accepting and recognizing the divine plan, as shown in his decision to call the baby John, that is, with the name given by the Archangel. Zechariah recognizes how John is first and foremost a child of God, before he is his own, despite having waited for him all of his life. Because of his faith, God frees Zechariah from his muteness. All of this calls us to consider our own children as creatures whom God has entrusted to us only momentarily. We are at a crossroads: are our children persons on whom we project our humanly unfulfilled desires, or are they new children of God who will one day enrich the Kingdom of Heaven?
