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Commentary on the Gospel – December 19, 2025
In the lives of the saints, we frequently find situations where they made risky decisions by placing their trust in the Lord, relying on His word and His power because nothing is impossible for Him. John was necessary for the prophecies to be fulfilled: “A voice of one crying out in the desert: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths’.” (Isaiah 40:3).
Faithful to his purpose of “writing the narrative from the beginning,” Luke tells the story of the birth of John, the Precursor of the Messiah. Gabriel is the messenger. We know the characters and the setting well: Zechariah, his wife Elizabeth, the Temple… Almost immediately after, Luke recounts the Annunciation with the same messenger. The contrast lies between one response and the other: Zechariah’s doubt—”How shall I know this?”—versus Mary’s unconditional acceptance: “Let it be done to me.”
The truth is, the priest’s doubt is quite reasonable. Surely, something similar has happened to us on more than one occasion. We ask ourselves if we should really respond to a proposal, follow a rule, make a decision on a complicated issue, carry out a good deed that comes to mind, join our strength to this or that cause, accept or reject a task… or discern if there is truly an inspiration from God Himself, or if what we want to decide is merely the product of our imagination. Sometimes, we even abandon the matter entirely because, honestly, we don’t know how to be certain.
We must decide, even if there are doubts. In any case, as Gamaliel would say some time later: “If this endeavor is of human origin, it will destroy itself; but if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them.” (Acts 5:34-39).
Gabriel, the messenger, puts him to the test: he is left speechless, and those with him in the temple know that something strange has happened. Zechariah returns home, and things come to pass: Elizabeth conceives, the Precursor is born, and Zechariah recovers his speech. It is a happy ending, although a decisive and trusting response would have saved him the hardship…