It is difficult if not impossible to hear the Gospel today and understand why the people would rejoice at his birth, then be fearful at his circumcision and question what then will this child be as they realized the hand of God was upon him. It is difficult if you don’t have the words Zechariah said in Luke to guide you.
It is like telling a joke but not telling the punch line. It can be frustrating.
So I wanted to share with you the words Zechariah spoke, the blessing he gave to God. They are significant enough and the church believed important to the primary nature of Christ’s message that they are part of the Liturgy of the Hours, the Morning Prayer and are called the Canticle of Zechariah. Priests and Deacons and maybe many of you who pray the Liturgy of the Hours each morning are familiar with it.
But here it is:
The Canticle of Zechariah.
Then Zechariah his father, filled with the holy Spirit, prophesied, saying:
* “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
for he has visited and brought redemption to his people.
* He has raised up a horn for our salvation
within the house of David his servant,
even as he promised through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old:
salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us,
to show mercy to our fathers
and to be mindful of his holy covenant
and of the oath he swore to Abraham our father,
and to grant us that,
rescued from the hand of enemies,
without fear we might worship him
in holiness and righteousness
before him all our days.
And you, child, will be called prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord* to prepare his ways,
to give his people knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God
by which the daybreak from on high* will visit us
to shine on those who sit in darkness and death’s shadow,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
Now we know what they heard and why they had fear and questions about John.
Zechariah told them that this little baby lying before them, John, would be the one to prepare a path for the expected Messiah, the Christ, the light of the world. John would be the one to tell the people of Israel to turn from sin and if they lived in holiness and righteousness God would guide their feet into the path of peace. And that is a good message for us today.
Not just to turn from sin. We know Christ, we believe in him. We have already heard the message of repentance. Hopefully we make use of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. But we are also called to be holy and bring holiness and Christ into all parts of our lives so that we might be righteous and walk on the path of peace.
The Gospel today tells us that John was born to prepare the way for Christ and we know the rest of the story. He did. Jesus Christ came and died for our sins. The kingdom of God has entered our world not as the judging God or the punishing God but as a loving God, a God that loves us tenderly.
It is for us now to live out our own baptismal calling like the people of Israel who heard John. We who have been baptized not just with water but in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit we were baptized.
We are called to be holy not just one hour on Sunday but all day and every day. To allow Christ to sit with us at work, to ride with us as we commute and to join us for dinner when we eat together. We will then see that with Christ with us, with our heart open to Christ at work we conduct business differently, we remove fear or anxiety, we can be assured of the right actions to take and decisions we must make, for we make them as holy men and women.
If we have Christ beside us on our commute down Mopac or I35 we will find patience for others as they cut us off. Try it!
If we have Christ with us as we sit for dinner, arguments and bickering disappear in favor of charity and kindness. For we would put others interests ahead of our own and we will see Christ in them.
But it’s about having the will, making the decision to take Christ with us as we leave here, past the priest and the deacon, bring him in to our car, keep him with us as we arrive home and ask him to be with us tomorrow as we go to work or school. If we ask he will be there.
Try being holy and being mean to someone. You can’t do it. Try being holy and being mad, I can’t do it.
We are called to be holy and to use the gifts of the holy spirit to reach others in the world. That was John’s mission but it is ours too. And the first step is for us to live holy lives centered around Christ.
It makes sense really. If you believe you are a child of God. If you believe he created us in his image then, being holy is being healthy, being in our natural state. Our father is holy, we were born to be holy. If we are not living holy lives we are living out of balance and peace will elude us.
It is like the saying, Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly and dogs gotta run. Meaning when these animals are not doing those things they usually are not very happy or healthy.
It’s the same with us. We were born to be holy. Ever think about that?
If we were born to be holy and are not. If we are cutting ourselves off from the Holy Spirit and our Father and the love of Christ by our lifestyle….why do we expect o find happiness and peace?
I don’t know about you but when I am here with you I am blessed. I can feel God’s love for each of you and I feel like together we are in God’s presence and it is wonderful. I work hard to keep that presence with me as I go to work during the week and in all I do. But I know it is difficult sometimes. Anxiety can creep up on us. Fear can weigh us down. But I challenge everyone this week to try to keep Christ present to them a few days or hours longer. This means abiding by the teachings that are first and foremost in our church. To love God above all else and to love others as we love ourselves. That is all you have to do to be holy. And if you can keep that up. If you can bring Christ with you every day you will reach righteousness and your feet will be guided down the path of peace. But peace is not a place. It is a path we must choose to stay on by choosing to be holy.
We are baptized so we are given the light of Christ to shine in our lives, to love others as Christ loved, to practice charity and honesty – even in the small things – and faithfulness with all you meet.
We can be holy. We can live 24 hours with the Holy Spirit within us.
Birds gotta fly, fish gotta swim, dogs gotta run.
And the children of Our Holy Father in heaven gotta be holy or they will not be happy or at peace.U
Deacon Tony Pynes 
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