LET YOUR DESIRES BE SANCTIFIED ~ CookingFood.Org

“HONEY FROM THE ROCK”

Saturday, 24^thDecember 2016,

Fourth Week of Advent

2 Sam 7: 1-5, 8-12, 14, 16;

Ps 88: 2-5, 27, 29;

Lk 1: 67-79

LET YOUR DESIRES BE SANCTIFIED

The liturgy reminds us that God has our desires close to his heart, yet he fulfills them only according to his plan. In the first reading, God rejects David’s suggestion to build a temple for the Lord and gave three reasons. First, there was no pressing need since the ark had resided in tents since the Exodus. Second, God had not commanded His people to build Him a permanent temple. Third, David was an inappropriate person to build a temple since he had shed much blood. God was not disciplining David or rejecting him but was simply redirecting His servant. He was to be a ruler, not a temple builder.

In the Gospel, we hear Zechariah exclaim: You my child, shall be called the Prophet of the Most High. This song of praise from Zechariah is spoken once his tongue is loosed after manifesting faith in the birth of his son John. He came to realize that his little child was the one who would prepare the immediate way for the Lord. He came to understand this baby’s singular prophetic role in the salvation of the world. He saw his son as the “dawn” which was to announce the rising Sun. So much happened to Zechariah in his months of silence and suffering. The Lord worked on him and enabled him to offer this prayer of praise that is sung daily by priests and religious throughout the world. Zechariah truly fulfilled his mission by getting back up on his feet after his fall. The same must happen with each one of us. It would have been easy for Zechariah to turn to anger and despair. He could have easily lost hope and felt abandoned by God. But he didn’t. He waited on the fidelity of God and, when his time came, he spoke this beautiful and faith-filled song of praise.

God does not always permit us to carry out our desires. He sometimes makes this impossible because He wants us to serve Him in other ways. A realization of this fact would relieve many Christians from false guilt and shattered dreams. Let us reflect, upon how God wants you to imitate the faith and perseverance of Zechariah. Godlike he did to David, worked in Zechariah’s life, not according to Zechariah’s desires but by his plan. Let us seek the ways that God also wants to work through our failures of the past. Let us offer them to Him and trust that He will manifest His almighty power through me and you.

Prayer: Lord, I offer You my past and all the ways that I have failed to trust in You. I give You my weakness, my pride and my frustration. I surrender all sin to You and give myself to You completely so that You may do with me as You will. May Your grace be at work in me and may I, like Zechariah, sing forever the glory of Your holy name. Jesus, I trust in You. Amen.