On the day, we celebrate the birth of our Savior, join Zechariah in praise

“Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel!”

This God of Israel is the God who is ever faithful even when Israel had time and again been unfaithful.

This is the God who comes to save SINNERS.

 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊       

2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16

When the king

Had settled in his palace and Yahweh had rid him of all his surrounding enemies,

he said to Nathan the prophet, "Look, I live in a house of cedar but the Ark of God is housed in a tent.

" Nathan replied, "Do as it seems fit to you for Yahweh is with you."

 

But that very night, Yahweh's word came to Nathan, "Go and tell my servant David,

this is what Yahweh says: Are you able to build a house for me to live in?

 

Now you will tell my servant David, this is what Yahweh of Hosts says:

I took you from the pasture, from tending the sheep, to make you commander of my people Israel.

I have been with you wherever you went, cutting down all your enemies before you.

 

Now I will make your name great, as the name of the great ones on earth.

I will provide a place for my people Israel and plant them that they may live there in peace.

They shall no longer be harassed, nor shall wicked men oppress them as before.

 

From the time when I appointed judges over my people Israel it is only to you that I have given rest from all your enemies. Yahweh also tells you that he will build you a house.

When the time comes for you to rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your son after you, the one born of you; and I will make his reign secure. I will be a father to him and he shall be my son. Your house and your reign shall last forever before me, and your throne shall be forever firm."

 

Ps 89:2-3, 4-5, 27 & 29 Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊      

Luke 1:67-79

Zechariah, filled with the Holy Spirit, sang this canticle: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has come and redeemed his people.

In the house of David his servant, he has raised up for us a victorious Savior, as he promised through his prophets of old, salvation from our enemies and from the hand of our foes.

He has shown mercy to our fathers; and remembered his holy Covenant, the oath he swore to Abraham, our father, to deliver us from the enemy, that we might serve him fearlessly, as a holy and righteous people, all the days of our lives.

And you, my child, shall be called Prophet of the Most High, for you shall go before the Lord, to prepare the way for him, and to enable his people to know of their salvation, when he comes to forgive their sins.

This is the work of the mercy of our God, who comes from on high, as a rising sun, shining on those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, and guiding our feet into the way of peace."

 

Gospel Reflection ：

"The Lord redeemed his people." 

Today's pericope tells of hope that springs up from God's tender mercy.

Moreover, this kind of hope is experienced not only by a few persons but by all the people.

Being filled with this kind of hope is like an experience of "sunrise" or "daybreak" (anatole).

"Sunrise" ever remains a beautiful image that captures our experience of hope.'

 

We should not then wonder that it is used in Zechariah's Canticle.

Zechariah was blessing the Lord, the God of Israel, who has visited his people to redeem them.

In his Canticle, Zechariah has expressed an experience of salvation that arises

From God's tender mercy and which was shared by all the people.

 

Zechariah seems to represent the people who already experienced the fulfillment of God's promise to his people.

It is like the "sunrise," which gently touches not just the chosen few but everyone.