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giving him an earful. But when the baby was born and people wanted him to
confirm the use of the nontraditional name of John (later John the Baptist), he
wrote
John
on a tablet and voila, he could speak again! And speak he did in the
beautiful Canticle of Zachariah, a poem of praise to the Lord, for he had had a lot
of time to reflect, pray and meditate on what the angel, Gabriel, had told him.
I wonder about the times I did not hear God speaking to me through other peo-
ple, not an angel but family or friends. How often have I questioned a message
that I did not want to hear and just turned a deaf ear? Angels can come in many
forms; let me be attuned to those voices whispering wisdom to me. A small
earthquake (John the Baptist) was a precursor to the big one (Jesus). Do I have
my emergency Faith Kit ready?
Prayer
The True Light of Christmas by Loise Pinkerton Fritz
No wreath hung on the manger door,
No wreath with twinkling lights;
No candles lit the manger scene
Upon that holy night.
No decorated fir tree stood
On manger floor of sod,
The manger where the Christ Child lay,
The blessed son of God.
There was no need for lighted wreaths,
No need for candle glow,
No need for decorated trees
That Christmas long ago.
There was no need for man-made lights
To light the manger bare,
For on that bed of straw lay Christ;
The world?s true light was there.
_______
Nancy Lawrence
Parishioner and Catechist
