For the ancient Jews a name defined a person´s identity. So for Elizabeth to name her son “John” was significant. It showed her recognition of God´s great plan for the child. John was in God’s special care from the start.
Zechariah had doubted God and was struck mute. He regains his speech only after publicly accepting God´s plan and allowing his newborn son to take the name John. We, too, might have a bit of Zechariah in us. We resist God, only to hit a dead end. Bad friendships, habits of serious sin, rising despair – all of these can eat away at us. Yet, repentance is slow to come. Why? We think that evil is basically good, We think that we need it, at least a little, in order to experience the fullness of being. If we look, however, at the world that surrounds us we can see that this is not so; in other words, that evil is always poisonous, does not uplift human beings, but degrades and humiliates them. Am I resisting God´s plans in my life? Can we accept God’s plan and live it in your daily life.
Fr. Maroun El Kazzi