All of us face decisions, choices that we must make. I've learned that there's a lot of negotiation that can take place to maintain relationships that might otherwise be lost if I'd stubbornly stuck to my opinions. I've also learned something just as important...maybe MORE important: There are PRINCIPALS that are immovable. These are the foundational elements that you NEVER compromise. These are the roots of matters that are really important to each of us as individuals. These are the key ingredients that define YOU. 
  
Malachi 3:1-4, 23-24 
Psalm 25:4-5ab, 8-9, 10+14 
Luke 1:57-66  Now the time came for Elizabeth to be delivered, and she gave birth to a son. 58 And her neighbors and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. 59 And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they would have named him Zechari'ah after his father, 60 but his mother said, "Not so; he shall be called John." 61 And they said to her, "None of your kindred is called by this name." 62 And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he would have him called. 63 And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, "His name is John." And they all marveled. 64 And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. 65 And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea ; 66 and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, "What then will this child be?" For the hand of the Lord was with
him. 
  
Meditation by Bert Thelen, S.J. 
The Scripture Readings for the last day before Christmas Eve feature the last and one of the shortest prophets in the Hebrew Bible, Malachi.  His name, probably a pseudonym to protect him (since his message was so unpopular), means "messenger."  It almost seems as if the early Church found a similarity between him and John the Baptist whose birth is recalled in today's Gospel.  There is in both Malachi and John the Baptist a sharp sense of urgency, almost a sense of doom.  Both preach strongly against injustice, recalling the earlier fierce prophet, Elijah.  Both are messengers of the "great and terrible day of the Lord," when God will judge the earth with justice. 
In contrast to the first reading, today's Gospel passage recalls almost fondly the birth of John the Baptist, who will be the forerunner and messenger of the Lord whom we all seek.  It's a domestic family scene, the naming of their child by Elizabeth and Zechariah, but it created wonder, fear, and awe.  For when Zechariah wrote down, "John is his name," his tongue was freed and his mouth was opened with a beautiful prayer of blessing we now know as "The Benedictus," chanted in monasteries and Churches ever since the formation of the Christian Scriptures in the late first century. 
"Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has come to his people and set them free...He has raised up for us a mighty Savior, born of the house of  his servant, David, etc."  
  
Zechariah's song ends with these beautifully hopeful words, "In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace."  What an apt description of the Coming of Jesus, Emmanuel, Our  Savior, the Prince of Peace, the celebration of whose birth is only a day and a half away! Today's Psalm  Response says it all: 
"Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is at hand." 
  
Reciting and meditating on the words of this Psalm and of the Benedictus (which is tomorrow's Gospel) can constitute our prayer today.  We would be hard pressed to find better words. 
  
  
Supplementary Reading 
If You Don't Do It...Who Will? 
   
"...stand fast in the Lord..." -Philippians 4:1 
  
I've always loved the comic strip "Peanuts"...the creation of a true genius, Charles Schultz. My sister, Jill, recently sent me a little clip of the mid-1960's TV special, "A Charlie Brown Christmas." In the clip, Charlie Brown exclaims, "Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?" 
  
Linus responds, "Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about..." and, Linus proceeds to recite, from memory, the Christmas story found in the Holy Bible, the 2nd Chapter of Luke. 
  
It was reported that in a production meeting, the creative staff working on the special pointed out that, "If we leave the quotations from the Bible in, it might get rejected by the network." 
  
Mr. Schultz was presented with a seemingly hard decision. Nonetheless, he responded, "If we don't do it...who will?" They left in Linus' reciting of the Christmas scripture, and one of America 's top three television networks aired it nationwide! 
  
All of us face decisions, choices that we must make. I've learned in my 61 years that there's a lot of negotiation that can take place to maintain relationships that might otherwise be lost if I'd stubbornly stuck to my opinions. I've also learned something just as important...maybe MORE important: There are PRINCIPALS that are immovable. These are the foundational elements that you NEVER compromise. These are the roots of matters that are really important to each of us as individuals. These are the key ingredients that define YOU. 
  
Apparently, Charles Schultz' faith, expressed through his timeless Christmas TV special, was one of these moments in his life. What are yours? 
  
If you don't do it...who will? 
  
Lord, I want to stand for something in my lifetime. Not just anything. Something good, something noble...something significant for YOU. Rise up within me an attitude that wants to hear and follow Your voice. Amen. 
  
Every day we face certain situations and people that force us to compromise our opinions or our actions. Most of the time these situations, and our flexibilities, mold us into better persons. Sometimes, however, we have to "take a stand." What principals are foundational to you, that you would never be willing to yield?  - Jim Coleman