Thoughts for the Day

In the days of King Herod of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. But they had no children because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years.

Once when he was serving as priest before God and his section was on duty, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and offer incense. Now at the time of the incense-offering, the whole assembly of the people was praying outside. Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified; and fear overwhelmed him. But the angel said to him, 'Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.'

* Picture of medieval "Jesse Tree".

(Church in Wales Lectionary, from New Revised Standard version)

Thoughts

Zechariah and Elizabeth's child would be John the Baptist who came to prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah, in other words, of Jesus. Elizabeth and Mary were probably cousins, and both were expecting their babies at the same time, so John and Jesus would have been second cousins.

Yesterday we looked at the 'O Antiphons', the fifth century verses that are read before psalms in the days before Christmas. They all refer to a title given to the Messiah for example, O Wisdom, and O Lord. We need to remember that Jesus is not just a man, but he is our Lord, and creator of the world!

Today's O Antiphon is 'O Root of Jessie'. The prophet Micah prophesied that the Messiah would be a descendent of Jesse, the father of King David, and would be born in his city of Bethlehem.

O Wisdom,
O Lord,
O root of Jesse,
creator of the world,
and ruler of Your people,
we remember that You
came to live among us
as a baby,
in order to offer us eternal life.
Amen.