Third Week of Advent, Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2006

Scripture: Judges 13:2-7,24-25. Psalm 71:3-4,5-6.16-17. Luke 1:5-25

Two lively announcements of surprising births are our subject of meditation for today. Samson and John the Baptist are the ones to be born. The stories are somewhat similar, but hundreds of years apart, yet, God works among us no matter where humans are in history past, present, or future. The stories are lively with "thick description" and Luke is at his best in recounting it in language that is similar to the Septuagint (the first translation of the Old Testament into Greek circa 150 B.C.). Though unnamed, the first woman, the wife of Manoah, is given the message through an angel. She tells her husband about this and both are attentive and trust in the words of the angel who is not named. In the narrative about Zachariah and Elizabeth, names are given and a fuller story issues from the pen of St. Luke. Many people are questioning why Zacharian is struck dumb while in the parallel story of the Annunciation to Mary is not. The text itself reveals why. Gabriel who is the angel in both apparitions says that it is due to his lack of trust in the message sent from God. It is only a temporary affliction; Elizabeth will now take center stage as the Baptist is conceived and it is she who will extol the faithfulness and the yes of Mary. Both the story of Samson's birth and that of John the Baptist are successful stories. I would think that Luke was able to write about Zehariah and Elizabeth and frame it in a similar way to that of the story of Manoah's wife which is told in the Old Testament in the Book of Judges. We see how gifted the inspired writers are and how they use the talents they have in writing about the events in Jesus' life and those of his relatives. God does not take away from the natural skills of a Luke, Matthew, Mark or John. Each one has a special style, a significant theology, and a beautiful way of telling the Good News. We are the beneficiaries of their literary gifts and spiritual messages. So today as we enjoy listening to the story of the conception of the Baptist ,the forerunner and witness to Jesus. Jesus' birth will soon be announced by Luke. Like the women who are featured in these stories and who trust in God and God's words to them through an angel, let us take up their openness and unite ourselves to them with our listening attentiveness. Amen.