Becoming

But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He will drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb, and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. In today's reading we hear about Zechariah who gets the message from an angel that he and his wife (Elizabeth, well beyond child-bearing age) will have a son who will later grow up to be John the Baptist. Even before John's birth, it seems as if the angel can see the whole breadth and width of his life in great detail ("he will drink neither wine nor strong drink"). John is pre-destined it seems to do great things. While I believe that we are a product of our choices can it also be true that we are pre-destined for God's purpose? Or did the angel merely plant the seed, the belief, in Zechariah that his son would do great things and this became a self-fulfilling prophecy. I think this can be true as well - we become what we believe.