The
sole meaning of life is to serve humanity by contributing to the establishment
of the kingdom of God, which can only be done by the recognition and profession
of the truth by every man. – Leo Tolstoy: (1828 –1910: was a Russian
writer who is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time)
Gospel
Text: (LK 1:67-79)
Zechariah his father, filled with the
Holy Spirit, prophesied, saying:
“Blessed be the Lord, the God of
Israel;
for he has come to his people and set
them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty
Savior,
born of the house of his servant
David.
Through his prophets he promised of
old
that he would save us from our
enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our
fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath he swore to our
father Abraham:
to set us free from the hand of our
enemies,
free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.
You, my child, shall be called the
prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to
prepare his way,
to give his people knowledge of
salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon
us,
to shine on those who dwell in
darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of
peace.”
The Canticle of Zechariah is a hymn of
praise for the salvation that was to come through the Messiah. While
Zechariah must have been thinking about God's promises to the nation of Israel
to deliver her from her enemies, God's mission for the Messiah was a bit
different. The coming of Jesus was God's gift to save us from the bondage
of sin and not from any temporal power. Jesus brought with him a power of
salvation to save us from the power of Satan. He came into the world
bearing with him the fullness of God's grace, mercy and love. Surely
there is every reason to exalt him as Zechariah did and make a promise to
"serve him in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life."
No comments:
Post a Comment