He has raised up a horn for our salvation

24 DECEMBER (Lk 1,67-79)

Who reads the history of salvation will notice that there are two agents in it: God and man. God is the Agent that never gets tired of raising up his creature made by him in his image and likeness. On the contrary, man is the agent that never tires to destroy what God always tries to revive, renew, rebuild and get up.

This is a struggle, a fight that will last until the end of history. Then, the two forces will be separated forever. God will be with those who will have let themselves be rebuild by Him. On the contrary, who will not have let himself be redone, remodeled by the Lord, will be abandoned forever to his physical and spiritual nullity. He will become eternal vanity, in a death without end that will never consume him and will never reduce him to nothing.

Meditating on the events that are eternal truth of the mystery of Christmas, today I see myself and with me many other Christians, that we sing only liturgically the mystery of salvation. We sing it as Zaccaria does, in an admirable way in its past and present history; however, we forget that our historical, practical and effective faith is failing to participate with all the strength of our spirit and our soul.
To this mystery Zechariah did not give his faith. He remained silent for quite nine months. Only now his tongue is loosened, after that every word uttered by the angel Gabriel was punctually fulfilled. It is a perfect song with regard to the Lord’s work and imperfect, instead, for what his faith is concerned.

Let us think for a moment to our wonderful liturgies, to our smelling incense, to the polyphony of our songs, to the endless ceremonies that regulate our every move around the altar of Almighty God, let us think of all these gestures made. Everything is designed to perfection. Everyone is called to play his part with scrupulous observance. Nevertheless, this liturgy and rituals are often empty. What is Missing? Our faith, our charity and our hope.

Our heart, our soul and our spirit is missing; not even our body is often present, because it is transported to other places by our endless distractions. We sing God’s work, but we do not use the work of God. We celebrate God that works wonders of salvation, but we are not the wonder saved by God. We cry to the Lord that is a mighty savior, but we remain in our mud of sin and death.

Then Zechariah his father, filled with the holy Spirit, prophesied, saying: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has visited and brought redemption to his people. He has raised up a horn for our salvation within the house of David his servant, even as he promised through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old: salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to show mercy to our fathers and to be mindful of his holy covenant and of the oath he swore to Abraham our father, and to grant us that, rescued from the hand of enemies, without fear we might worship him in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, child, will be called prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God by which the daybreak from on high will visit us to shine on those who sit in darkness and death’s shadow, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

The song of Zechariah is perfect. It lacks in nothing. The whole history of God’s mercy towards his people and all of humanity is contained in it. However, it is a song to which he cannot add his faith. Now we ask: to the Christmas singing that is raised in our churches and in our homes, can we add our faith, or it is a beautiful song but without the stupendous work that it is we, because we are still in the sin and destruction of our humanity? Is our mouth singing without the heart and the mind, or is the singing springing from the depths of our soul that has become home to every Word of God? Are we the fruit of the mystery we celebrate, or are we celebrating the mystery remaining we absent to the mystery, because we are still a part of the old humanity and of the old sin that kills us?

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints make us really share in the mystery.