St. Gall Catholic Community

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Posted by Chuck Scherl
Parishioner Chuck Scherl is head of the New Beginnings Grief Support Ministry and leader of the Liturgy of the Hours Prayer Group.  Chuck takes his two dogs walking most mornings at a local dog park.

This reflection is from Pope Benedict XVI's three volumes of Jesus of Nazareth. 

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Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives
by Pope Benedict XVI
 

Pages:18-25 Ch II: The Annunciation of the Birth of John (Continued from previous post)

My attention is drawn to Zechariah, the priest of the day, whose duty it was to offer the evening prayer at the altar of incense. It easy for me to imagine that Zechariah prayer Including pleas to God to deliver Israel from the subjugation of the Romans and to send his promised Messiah. And simultaneously, in the presence of God, his prayers were all united with the heavenly prayers those of “the four living creatures and the twenty-four elder each holding ‘harp, and … golden bowls of incense, which are the prayers of the saints’(Rev 5:8)”.

In this sacred setting, an angel appeared to Zechariah and told him, “Your prayer has been heard.” The angel continued: “Your wife Elizabeth shall bear you a son… John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth… He will be filled with the Holy Spirit… He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God… to prepare a people fit for the Lord” (Luke 1:13-17).

Zechariah questioned how his aged wife could give birth. God himself intervened with Elizabeth, as he did with Sarah, the mother of Isaac; Hannah, the mother of Samuel; and Manoah, the mother of Samson[i]. Perhaps because Zechariah should have known of these precedents, he was struck dumb for his doubt.

This announcement by the angel marks the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s promise and the transition from the Old Covenant to the New. John will be the last prophet of the Old Testament and the first prophet of the New.

I am reminded of Vespers at the New Camaldoli Hermitage in Big Sur where one of the monks light incense before the altar as Psalm 141 is intoned “Let my prayer be incense before you, my uplifted hands and evening oblation”. As the smoke fills the altar’s rotunda, and drifts into the oratory the yearning for the coming of Christ into our hearts is palpable.

Lord, every evening at Vespers, it is my most fervent prayer that You come into the heart of every living person. May we wait for You, free of doubt and filled with faith and hope, as our prayers rise to You like incense before Your holy throne in heaven. Amen.

(To Be Continued …)