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Sunday Reflections  

4th Sunday of Advent

Micah 5:1-4

Hebrews 10:5-10

Luke 1:39-44

Zachariah and Elizabeth had been praying for a child for many years.  Perhaps their initial fervour and desire for a child had grown a little stale. They had become accustomed to being alone, being together. They had become settled in their ways, they knew each other’s habits, eccentricities, likes and dislikes. Like many older people, they had become settled in their ways. ‘Out of the blue’ God answered their prayers!  God’s timing is not always convenient for us!

The pending arrival of a baby must have shaken the roots they had laid.  But they would manage in their own way. They were wise enough now to know how to do things well.  They lovingly accepted what was God’s plan for them. They recognised their place in the History of Salvation.

They did not need the help, advice, support, the interference of a young relative, who might push them into new ways of doing things!  Of course they would welcome her, of course they loved her and when she did come they were open to God’s revelation to them as to who she was and the one whom she bore.

Can’t we see in ourselves in Elizabeth and Zachariah?  Of course we want to hear what God wants us to hear, to do what God wants, but so often we want it on our own terms, we want it to fit into our plans and not disturb us very much! 

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