The Benedictus

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

THIS is the outpouring of praise and thanksgiving that Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, prayed after what was told him by the archangel Gabriel that he would have a son despite his old age and his wife’s barreness, finally took place. (cfr. Lk 1,67-79)

It’s a joyful prayer that we should make also as our own as we approach the greatest event of human history when the Son of God is finally born to us. This prayer is the proximate prophecy of what the birth of Christ would mean to all of us.

“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; for he has come to his people and set them free,” the prayer begins. “He has raised up for us a mighty Savior, born of the house of his servant David. Through his prophets he promised of old that he would save us from our enemies, from the hands of all who hate us.”

Especially nowadays when there is a lot of confusion about what our life here on earth is all about, this prayer would clarify things for us and put us in the right condition and outlook in our life.

This prayer will give us a strong and abiding sense of the real purpose of our life. Indeed, with the flowering of technological developments around, we need to realize more deeply that the quantum leap in that area also calls, nay, requires, a matching quantum leap in our sense of purpose. Otherwise, we would get what is tantamount to an overdose, an overload of something that would be very harmful to us.

It would be ideal if we can manage to have an abiding sense of the real purpose of our life, so we can avoid getting entangled in the distractions or, worse, lost in the maze of concerns or stranded in idleness, laziness, loneliness, worries and the like.

And what kind of purpose can this be that would keep us going no matter what situation we find ourselves in? This could only be God, our love of God, from whom we come and to whom we belong. He is our beginning and end, our everything.

That’s why we need to sharpen our awareness of him, feel his presence and his abundant merciful love for us, learn to discern his will and ways in every moment, and know how to relate everything in our life to his ever-functioning Providence.

We need to strengthen our faith that only in God can we have the ultimate purpose in life. St. Paul said so: “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Cor 10,31)

Before that, Christ himself told us to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.” (Lk 10,27) Nothing could be clearer than this as to what our final purpose in life is. All other goals and objectives we have in life should only be secondary and instrumental to this ultimate purpose of our life.

We need to find ways to correspond to this clear commandment of God to us. That effort will help us to broaden our mind, to continue making initiatives, to widen our perspectives, to deepen our hope and inflame our charity.

It will spur us to action always, not contented with knowing things alone or having some theoretical attitude in life. It will push us to develop a universal heart, capable of dealing with everyone and of reaching out to everyone, including the most difficult personalities and enemies we can have in this life.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com