“There was a certain priest named Zacharias, his wife’s name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blameless in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord. And they had no child because Elizabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.” Luc 1: 5-7

The story is told of a young man who sent a letter to a young girl, whom he had met a few days before, to let her know all his love. In a long development, he passionately exposed how he would be ready to brave the very hot desert sand, challenge the snow and icy cold of the North Pole and the furious waves of the Atlantic Ocean, just for her. Therefore, it was only after signing this beautiful declaration of love that he remembered a small detail that he then chose to put in post scriptum as follows: "Baby, if it does not rain tonight, I will go to see you!"

This little detail, dear reader, doesn’t it come to question the sincerity of the price that he said he is ready to pay in his beautiful love’s declaration? If, then, it is the test of a little rain that the sincerity of this guy’s love comes to light, what are we to say about Zacharie and Elizabeth, characters of our bible reference !

Luke took care in his story to highlight the pious character, the blameless life of the couple before talking about their problem: they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren. Although, Zacharias love for his wife did not cool one iota even less for his God.

Worse, some could have rebelled against God. Zechariah and Elizabeth did not rebel; they continued to serve God with loyalty and integrity even in their old age.

In speaking to us of Zechariah and Elizabeth today, God calls us: is our love true and sincere? If he had to go through the heat of the trial, will he emerge pure and blameless, or will there be nothing but the deafening noise of our praises and hymns, our dances and religious activism?

This brings us to examine ourselves: is the love of God always present in our hearts in all circumstances? Do we always give it the first place regardless of the situation we are going through? The beautiful hymns performed on Sundays, are they faithfully translated into our acts in every circumstance? Have we kept our first love, or does it wear out over time...?