Every Child Is A Unique Creation Of God

Gospel: Lk 1:57-66, 80 -
When the time came for Elizabeth, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the merciful Lord had done a wonderful thing for her, and they rejoiced with her. When, on the eighth day, they came to attend the circumcision of the child, they wanted to name him Zechariah after his father. But his mother said, “Not so; he shall be called John.” They said to her, “But no one in your family has that name!” and they made signs to his father for the name he wanted to give him. Zechariah asked for a writing tablet, and wrote on it, “His name is John;” and they were very surprised. Immediately, Zechariah could speak again, and his first words were in praise of God. A holy fear came on all in the neighborhood, and throughout the hill country of Judea the people talked about these events. All who heard of it pondered in their minds and wondered, “What will this child be?” For they understood that the hand of the Lord was with him.

Lectio Divina
Read: “Yahweh called me from my mother’s womb”: Isaiah proclaims the sacredness and personal worth of every life fashioned by God. John the Baptist had a unique mission given by God. He was set apart from the very beginnings of his life, as Zechariah and Elizabeth had already known.
Reflect: It is tempting for parents to consider their children to be extensions of their own lives, who should preserve the lineage and family interests or achieve the unfulfilled dreams of their own lives. The birth of John is a sharp rebuttal to such automated expectations. Every child is a unique creation of God with a clear mission from Him to fulfill. She or he may become even a total rupture from the family interests and traditions and they will inhabit a world unfamiliar to us. Our task as parents and mentors is to rein in our narcissistic dreams for them and help them discern and realize God’s dreams for them.
Pray: Pray for the children of the world to grow God-centered.
Act: Talk to a child enabling her/him to recognize her/his primary belongingness to God and what it entails.

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