Sign

To draw attention to the coming of Jesus and our lives as a sign of His coming.

It was night. Little Francois held on to his old friend’s coat with all his might Jacques. The third day he had eaten for the last and third year since his ruthless soldiers executed both parents. He has been left alone ever since. He lived on the streets of Paris. The only certainty was his dirt, hunger, and getting colder. A flash flashed across the dark sky, a second, a third, and then another and others. A deafening volley of works scared everyone around. “Has the war started …?!” Fear and horror passed on people’s faces as quickly as they came. Someone shouted, “The emperor has a son! Long live
Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte! The emperor has a son … “
The salvos sounded most of the night. There were 101 of them! This is how a man, the emperor, decided Napoleon Bonaparte celebrate the birth of his firstborn … 101 cannonballs were to sign that someone important was born, someone who can do a lot …

“What will this boy be like?” And indeed, the Lord’s hand was with him … (Luke 1,66). These words no longer belong to anyone from the imperial court. They were uttered over someone much easier, above John the Baptist. I mean, just over a little boy then John.
Evangelist Luke in the Gospel leaves a detailed picture of how he was born into the world prophet. In the biblical language, the phrase “the hand of the Lord” means as much as great miracles, strength, and power. In the Old Testament, God gave His people a rule of recognition to prophets. If what he predicted came true, a man was considered a prophet. The prophet was allowed to act in public and to proclaim only what the Lord had told him. And the truth of his deeds
and the words of the Lord he proved by the miracles he did through the prophet. In John’s case, wonders they began to do so even before his birth. We all know his story well.

John, the father of John, was Zechariah, the priest of Israel. When he had made a very great sacrifice in the Temple, he had a vision of an angel. He told him that his wife Elizabeth conceives a son to be named John despite his advanced age. Zechariah questioned this.
Then came the first sign that he was speechless and had yet to speak after the circumcision of his son. While for nine months, he remained silent, remained silent, and thought about what had happened and what was to happen. He had to expect in the disease a great testimony of the Lord. Anna really conceived and gave birth to a son.
People have probably got used to Zacharias’ silence. That’s why they wanted to name the boy according to tradition after the father or other significant relative. My mother was talking about it to decide. It was a centuries-old custom. And when Anna wanted to break it, her relatives were against it.

Then it was time to show whether Zechariah’s nine-month silence made sense. And a little while, Zechariah already understood that it was God’s will for his son to be called John. John means “Yahweh is merciful.” And John himself was to become a sign for coming.
The Merciful Lord. John precedes Jesus prepares the way for him. It is essential. That is why we are commemorating his birth today by reading the day and night before the holiday, the birth of the most important child in history.

Few people know about Bonaparte’s son’s birth today, even though he accompanied his thunder of hundreds of cannon wounds. But we commemorate the birth of Jesus and John the Baptist even after more than two thousand years. John was born to alert us to the coming of the Messiah – the Incarnate God.  “Yahweh is merciful” precedes Jesus, whose name means “Yahweh is salvation.” Thus, God’s mercy prepares the way for God’s salvation. It is a great and at a first silent sign that will grow into years and centuries, the greatest sign of human history. John, who will proclaim repentance and conversion in heart to receive God’s mercy and thus achieve God’s salvation. We read about all this today. Scripture still presented us with something current for our life. If we want to achieve God’s salvation – Jesus, we must first internally to turn and taste God’s mercy. Already tomorrow, at such a time, we will sit at the festive Christmas Eve table. We will meet here again for a few hours and celebrate the birth of the Son of God, who will come to die for us later, to rise from the dead and give us eternal life.

Jesus was born in the silence and poverty of the night. It was the best start for him. Let us, therefore, prepare for tomorrow’s feast of the heart today to welcome him in silence our deepest self. Let’s quench the disputes, create a beautiful atmosphere at Christmas and let’s be Jesus a worthy sign, a sign of God’s mercy and joyful anticipation
the coming of the Lord as John.