Answered Prayers

Answered Prayers

December 19, 2012

Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent

By Colleen O'Sullivan

The woman went and told her husband, “A man of God came to me; he had the appearance of an angel of God, terrible indeed.  I did not ask him where he came from, nor did he tell me his name.  But he said to me, ‘You will be with child and will bear a son.  So take neither wine nor strong drink, and eat nothing unclean.  For the boy shall be consecrated to God from the womb, until the day of his death.’”  The woman bore a son and named him Samson.  (Judges 13:6-7, 24a)

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 this birth, for he will be great in the sight of 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.”

(Luke 1:13-15a, 18-20) 

Piety

Great is Thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see.

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;

Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

(from Great is Thy Faithfulness, lyrics by Thomas O. Chisolm, 1923)

Study

Today our Scripture readings present us with two angelic annunciations, one to the mother of Samson and the other to Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist.  In each instance, through his messenger, God promises to make the seemingly impossible possible.  Both Samson’s mother, whose name is not revealed, and Elizabeth, Zechariah’s wife, are childless.  Both long for a child, because, in their respective societies, the worst kind of failure a wife could experience is the inability to provide a son and heir.  Years of heartfelt prayers are about to be answered.

In each case, the angel says God is sending this child into the world for a specific purpose, Samson to be one of Israel’s judges and John the Baptist to bring the people of Israel back to their God and to prepare the way of the Lord.

The recipients of the promises differ in their reactions, however.  Samson’s mother runs to tell her husband the good news and faithfully follows all the angel’s instructions.  Zechariah, the skeptical one, asks how God is going to do this, because he and his wife are already elderly.  For his questioning, he loses the ability to speak until his son is born.

Action

Our births may not have been heralded with visits from an angel, but God put each of us here with just as much intentionality as he showed in sending Samson and John the Baptist into the world.  Regardless of what your parents may have told you, none of us got here by accident.  When you have time today, reflect on what you think God’s purpose is for your life and whether or not you are living that out.  If you need some help on this, you might want to find a spiritual director.  One place to start is on our Cursillo website, http://www.arlingtoncursillo.org/thrive/thrive-sub-page-2/.

After years of longing and prayers for a son, Zechariah’s skepticism at the angel’s announcement might lead us to look at our own prayer expectations.  When we pray for our heart’s desires, do we truly believe God hears and will answer our prayers?