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December 19

The document discusses a reflection from Mark Ivan Roblas on praying for a child. After nine months of marriage, he decided to pray more specifically for a child using the Canticle of Zechariah. A month later, his wife learned she was pregnant with their first child, who they later named after Sts. John and Zechariah.

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Yvonne Dolorosa
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26 views3 pages

December 19

The document discusses a reflection from Mark Ivan Roblas on praying for a child. After nine months of marriage, he decided to pray more specifically for a child using the Canticle of Zechariah. A month later, his wife learned she was pregnant with their first child, who they later named after Sts. John and Zechariah.

Uploaded by

Yvonne Dolorosa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Name: Mark Ivan Roblas

Area/Sector: South B
Email address: [email protected]
Contact number: 09215942056

Date and Reading assigned:


Gospel December 19, 2019
Reading Luke 1: 5-25

The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold


5 Inthe time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named
Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife
Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were
righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands
and decrees blamelessly. 7 But they were childless because
Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.
8 Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving
as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the
custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn
incense. 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all
the assembled worshipers were praying outside.
11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right
side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was
startled and was gripped with fear.13 But the angel said to him: “Do
not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife
Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14 He will
be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his
birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to
take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy
Spirit even before he is born. 16 He will bring back many of the
people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the
Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the
parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the
righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
18 Zechariah
asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old
man and my wife is well along in years.”
19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of
God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good
news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the
day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will
come true at their appointed time.”
21 Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering
why he stayed so long in the temple. 22 When he came out, he could
not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple,
for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.
23 When his time of service was completed, he returned
home. 24 After
this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five
months remained in seclusion. 25 “The Lord has done this for me,”
she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my
disgrace among the people.”

Reflection Nine months into married life when I finally decided to pray more for
(Output) a child. Though it has been into our prayer time since we got
married, it was only after nine months that I decided to finally ask
(Title) God to give us kid. At the back of my mind, I was thinking that if
(Guide God does not give us a child, I will convince my wife to adopt a child.
Question)
(Action Step) In the prayer booklet my wife gave to me when we were starting out
our relationship was the prayer “Canticle of Zechariah.” This was a
prayer taken from the words of St. Zechariah when he asked the
Lord for a child who will later turn out to be St. John the Baptist.
Thanks to EDSA traffic, I was able to pray this on my way to the
office and back.

One day, my wife learned that I was praying the canticle where she
joked that I might get pregnant because of my prayer. A month after
our prayer, we would later learn that we were pregnant with our first
child of who we named later to Sts. John and Zechariah.

Prayer is a powerful approach in life that we often relegate to daily


routine. Unwittingly, our prayer becomes mechanical, lifeless, and
shallow. Instead, prayer should be vibrant, lively, and personal. It
would be a bore to speak to someone who does not show any
interest on you. So, should our prayers to the Lord be! Remember
that each time we pray, the Lord listens us intently, not only to the
pleadings of the mouth but also to the yearnings of the heart.

May we pray unceasingly every day that we breathe prayer at every


instance.

Guide Question:

When was the last time you prayed vibrantly to the Lord? What did
you pray for then?

Action Step:

Each time that you pray, start and end with a smile.

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