On Christmas Eve, this morning Mass provides a meditation on the ways in which God prepared the coming of Jesus.

The Gospels and Acts of the Apostles clearly teach the importance of John the Baptist's role in God's work of our redemption. As we draw closer to the celebration of Christmas Day, we fittingly celebrate the birth of John the Baptist by reflecting on Zechariah's prayer of praise, the Benedictus.

God's gracious dealings with Israel may be summed up in Zechariah's words: "God has visited his people." When Jesus wept over Jerusalem, it was because Jerusalem did not recognize the time of God's visitation. Zechariah rightly praised God for the birth of his son and foresaw that John's birth was a visitation from God, for John would prepare the way for Jesus more intimately and more immediately than any prophet. Yet, though John's birth was a great miracle of grace, and great though John would be in his mission to Israel, God's great work of our redemption would only, in divine providence, be accomplished by an even greater miraculous birth and the greater gift of Jesus.