Have you ever longed for something with all your heart, with all your strength and with every fibre of your being? Have you yearned for it so much that your dreams were filled with it, you cherished its promise and prayed for it endlessly, first with hope, next with urgency, and finally with pleadings, groanings and mute questioning? Hoping against hope, even when you knew that it was never going to be? And the days go by and you force yourself to stop thinking about it, because even the memory is too painful. Such was the experience of Zechariah, he of the priestly division of Abijah and his wife Sarah, she of the daughters of Aaron. Both are upright, righteous, and dutiful. But they were without child and they were both advanced in years; very advanced. And the dream was long gone, a distant memory.
Enter the Angel Gabriel, who visits Zechariah while he was burning incense in the temple and starts telling him the wonderful things that will come to be. Your prayer has been heard, your wife will bear you a son. And what a son! One who will be great in the sight of the Lord. One who will be filled with the Holy Spirit right from birth. One who will turn the hearts of many to their God. And what’s more, one who would be the forerunner to the Christ! At first, joy beyond telling surges in the old man’s breast. Then, reality strikes and doubts assail him as he poses the question: How can this be? For I am an old man and my wife is old too…
Can you fault Zechariah for his doubts? Wouldn’t we do the same? In fact, he does the truthful thing and is reduced to silence for his trouble. Several months of silence, in fact. But this is a great gift for Zechariah. For the next nine months, he ponders the message of the angel Gabriel and the growing infant within his pregnant wife’s womb. And yes, all the hopes, expectations, regrets, and doubts…he relives them many times over in a long unbroken meditation. Both Zechariah and Elizabeth pondered these things in their hearts and the visit of Mary would have magnified their wonder and awe, poignantly symbolized with the infant leaping for joy in Elizabeth’s womb at the proximity of the unborn Savior.
At long last, the precious infant is born, and on the sixth day, at the circumcision of St. John the Baptist, the dam bursts! Zechariah breaks his silence with his renowned canticle of praise and blessing, prophecy and testimony to God’s salvific work in the lives of his people Israel.
The takeaway for us is it’s okay to doubt, it’s okay to pose our heartfelt questions. God knows our every weakness and He has prepared a reward for us beyond our wildest dreams. All we need to do is trust. Like Zechariah, may we too voice our own doubts, fears and questions, but then let us not stop there. Instead, may we ponder deeply in silence and may we too compose our own beautiful canticles of praise to God for His abundant blessings in our lives!
