John the Baptist and expectation management

Today we celebrate the birth of John the Baptist in the Catholic Church.  The Gospel from Scripture, from Luke, Chapter 1, verses 57-66 and 80, is all about how Elizabeth and Zechariah’s family expect them to name the baby after his father, but mom insists that his name shall be John, which means, “God is gracious.” Of course, initially, no one believes that’s what Zechariah wants to name the child. He, you may recall, was struck dumb by an angel of the Lord for his disbelief that his wife would conceive a child in her advanced age. When he writes “His name is John,” to validate his wife’s objection to what the family wanted, they were all confused. Well, the Bible says they were “amazed.” I wonder if they were amazed because this fine husband sided with his wife against the conventional supposition of the family.

So the child is…