Today’s readings offer vivid reminders that God does indeed watch over the human family. They describe the birth of Samson and the good news that Elizabeth and Zechariah will become parents of John the Baptist. Both Samson and John were mysteriously announced; each would carry forward a special mission for God’s people.

Do you suppose that God thought that each of us would make a wonderful difference? Could it be that the Lord is inviting us to carry forward a specific mission with the project of our lives?

Come, Lord Jesus, work wonders in our hearts and homes as you come anew to our waiting world!

—Damian Torres-Botello, S.J. is a Jesuit scholastic currently studying philosophy at Loyola University Chicago.