The ‘Anyhow’ of God!

Friday, December 19, 2025

Jud 13:2-7, 24-25a; Lk 1:5-25

Today’s Gospel highlights that true faith transcends weak human logic.

Zechariah’s encounter with the angel Gabriel contains many lessons for us. 

1. When angel Gabriel announces the good news of his fatherhood, Zechariah wonders, ‘How shall I know this?’ If we keenly observe, Zechariah’s question resembles Mary’s at the annunciation narrative, where she asked, ‘How can this be? I am virgin’ (Lk 1:34). However, there is a difference between the two. 

Zechariah, the priest, is different from Mary, an ordinary village girl. Hence, much more was expected of Zechariah, who was not only advanced in years but also a priest of God with knowledge of the Scriptures and the history of Israel. It is very likely that he knew the story of Abraham and Sarah, the elderly couple who became the parents of Isaac despite Sarah’s barrenness. However, Zechariah fails to manifest his profound faith that God can work wonders beyond the limits of age or time. 

2. There is yet another difference that we cannot overlook. When Zechariah asks the angel of the Lord, ‘How shall I know this?’ he demands a sign, and therefore he is punished with muteness. But when Mary finds reassurance coming from the angel of God, her response is one of humble acceptance and surrender.

3. Zechariah’s question demands a certain proof that God will act. However, faith is not about asking ‘how.’ Instead, it is about believing that God will act ‘anyhow.’ In this regard, Mary showed greater humility than Zechariah by saying, ‘Behold the handmaid of God! Let it be done to me according to your will’ (Lk 1: 38). God’s plan calls for surrender, not for verification. 

4. Elizabeth becomes a model of faith when she confesses, ‘So has the Lord done for me at a time when he has seen fit to take away my disgrace before others.’ In her statement, Elizabeth shows no curiosity to know why God has delayed the gift of motherhood for her. Instead, she recognizes God’s timing and receives the gift of motherhood with gratitude. 

5. Zechariah’s example shows that the divine plan transcends human logic or calculation. Inscrutable are the ways of God. The same God who chose the elderly couple Zechariah and Elizabeth to be the parents of John the Baptist also chose Mary, an ordinary village girl, to be the mother of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Surrender is the best response to God’s will. 

Let us pray for the gift of faith that believes in the ‘anyhow’ of God.

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar