By the Impossible; Changed.

Gospel Reflection for Tuesday December 19, 2023

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In the days of Herod, King of Judea,
there was a priest named Zechariah
of the priestly division of Abijah;
his wife was from the daughters of Aaron,
and her name was Elizabeth.
Both were righteous in the eyes of God,
observing all the commandments
and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly.
But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren
and both were advanced in years.

Once when he was serving as priest
in his division's turn before God,
according to the practice of the priestly service,
he was chosen by lot
to enter the sanctuary of the Lord to burn incense.
Then, when the whole assembly of the people was praying outside
at the hour of the incense offering,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him,
standing at the right of the altar of incense.
Zechariah was troubled by what he saw, and fear came upon him.

But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah,
because your prayer has been heard.
Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son,
and you shall name him John.
And you will have joy and gladness,
and many will rejoice at his birth,
for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.
He will drink neither wine nor strong drink.
He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb,
and he will turn many of the children of Israel
to the Lord their God.
He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah
to turn the hearts of fathers toward children
and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous,
to prepare a people fit for the Lord."

Then Zechariah said to the angel,
"How shall I know this?
For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years."
And the angel said to him in reply,
"I am Gabriel, who stand before God.
I was sent to speak to you and to announce to you this good news.
But now you will be speechless and unable to talk
until the day these things take place,
because you did not believe my words,
which will be fulfilled at their proper time."
Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah
and were amazed that he stayed so long in the sanctuary.
But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them,
and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary.
He was gesturing to them but remained mute.

Then, when his days of ministry were completed, he went home.

After this time his wife Elizabeth conceived,
and she went into seclusion for five months, saying,
"So has the Lord done for me at a time when he has seen fit
to take away my disgrace before others."

-Lk 1:5-25

Today’s readings are all on the same theme. Barren and elderly couples are blessed, miraculously, with children. While it is very possible for an elderly man to father a child, it is not humanly possible for a woman past menopause. This is a powerful example of God doing the impossible. These are stories of God answering the prayers of the faithful who pray and hope for decades, trusting in God to answer those prayers. Often, it seems God only answers their prayers when the situation seems hopeless.

When I was 19, I was severely injured unloading a truck. Basically, a case of cast iron lawn furniture was dropped on me. I caught it before it crushed my legs. My back was severely injured - disks and vertebrae were irreparably damaged. X-Rays and MRIs showed that there was nothing doctors could do to enable me to walk un-aided again. For over two years I was partially paralyzed and in constant, agonizing pain. Life changed dramatically for me. I went from being a fairly popular, happy-go-lucky guy who had friends and was popular with the ladies, to a mostly bed-ridden, sleepless, medicated invalid. I could not go to school, work, date or even take a walk.

This was a dark time. I quickly develop a high tolerance for opiates, so it seemed I would soon have to choose between overdose and agonizing pain with lack of sleep. I was vaguely Christian, but not a church goer. The injury meant the end of any religious participation. One morning I could not get to the remote and the 700 Club came on. Pat Robertson suddenly said, “I have a word of knowledge. There is a young man in the mountains of North Carolina who is paralyzed from a back injury. By the power of God he is healed in this instant.” I was healed in a moment, in the blink of an eye. Doctors could not explain it. I could walk again. The pain did not decrease in the least, but my back was healed structurally. I went back to work, school and church. I became a youth minister. I began to read and learn about Christianity and, eventually I became Catholic.

My life was changed by a miracle. Like the couples in today’s Mass Readings, all that happened to me was not only beyond the physically possible, but beyond human hope and understanding. That is the difficult thing about miracles… if they were humanly or physically possible, they would not be miracles. Only when I have exhausted all I can do does God step in. Only when I am broken beyond all weakness does God lift me up. Perhaps I make things harder on myself than I should… maybe if I tried to be more humble and meek, God would help me sooner. But, that is not my personality. As they say about the Irish, I was “born fighting”. I’m stubborn. But, thank God, I have come to realize my weakness and find strength in relying on Him. Often, it feels like a major cop-out, but simply admitting that I can’t do it on my own and giving it over to Jesus is best… if I don’t do that right away, I will just screw it all up a thousand times, make things much worse and end up with no other option.

So, now I am 46. All I have ever wanted was a family of my own, a wife and kids. It seems very unlikely that I will meet a young woman and realize that dream that I have hoped and prayed for 30 years or so. But with God, all things are possible. I may be foolish to continue to hope, but I would be a fool to give up hope!

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Judson Carroll is the author of several books, including his newest, A Daily Catholic Devotional Reflections on the Daily Mass Readings January-June, 2024. It is Available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CPD1DC7Q

and

Confirmation, an Autobiography of Faith. It is also Available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47Q1JNK

His new podcast is The Uncensored Catholic https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-uncensored-catholic