Gospel: December 24, 2024
December 24, 2024 (Tuesday)
4th Week of Advent
Psalter: Week 4 / (Violet)
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 89: 2-3, 4-5, 27, 29
Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
1st Reading: 2 Samuel 7: 1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16
Gospel: Luke 1: 67-79
Zechariah, filled with the Holy Spirit, sang this canticle: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has come and redeemed his people.
In the house of David his servant, he has raised up for us a victorious Savior; as he promised through his prophets of old, salvation from our enemies and from the hand of our foes.
He has shown mercy to our fathers; and remembered his holy Covenant, the oath he swore to Abraham, our father, to deliver us from the enemy, that we might serve him fearlessly, as a holy and righteous people, all the days of our lives.
And you, my child, shall be called Prophet of the Most High, for you shall go before the Lord, to prepare the way for him, and to enable his people to know of their salvation, when he comes to forgive their sins.
This is the work of the mercy of our God, who comes from on high, as a rising sun, shining on those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, and guiding our feet into the way of peace.”
Reflection:
“The Lord redeemed his people.”
Today’s pericope tells of hope that springs up from God’s tender mercy. Moreover, this kind of hope is experienced not only by a few persons but by all the people. Being filled with this kind of hope is like an experience of “sunrise” or “daybreak” (anatolē). “Sunrise” remains to be a beautiful imagery that captures our experience of hope. We do not wonder why it is used in Zechariah’s Canticle. Zechariah was blessing the Lord, the God of Israel, who has visited his people to redeem them. In his Canticle, Zechariah has expressed an experience of salvation that came out of God’s tender mercy and which was shared by all the people. Zechariah seems to represent the people who already experienced the fulfillment of God’s promise to his people. It is like the “sunrise,” which gently touches not only the chosen few but everyone.
