GOSPEL

Birth of John the Baptist

From the Gospel according to Luke 1:57-66

When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son. Her neighbours 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 neighbours, 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.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

Unexpected Turns of the Spirit.

We insist on programming our lives according to our criteria, but God’s plans often take a different path, and I have to be open to it because, as someone once wisely told me, it’s through the unforeseen that the Holy Spirit ‘slips in.’ It is not that, things go well when they go as I had planned, but rather they go well when they happen as God wants. In other words, always.

Applied to Married Life:

Christina: I think my marriage is null. I had imagined something else. I got married thinking he was a knight in shining armour, and I find myself with the ghost of lost causes.

Charles: Well, let’s say you created expectations different from what the reality is. But, do you love your husband?

Christina: I do. However, he doesn’t love me.

Charles: Then accept him as he is and give yourself wholeheartedly, and you will see the work of God in your marriage. Do you want to miss out on that?

Christina: No! Not the work of God.

Charles: Do you think Isabel and Zechariah expected to have the precursor of Christ as their son? No, right? So start doing what you need to do in your marriage and trust. You’ll see how things are much more beautiful than they appear.

Mother,

God’s plans are always more beautiful than ours. We love being in His hands. Praise the Lord.