Angels 12 O’clock High

Radio 4's daily prayer and reflection with Father Dermot Preston
Good morning.
He looked up: the afternoon clouds were low and he couldn’t see much. It was the early 1940’s and my Uncle was on his daily walk along the sea-front and he’d heard an aircraft engine.
The clouds parted momentarily and he caught a glimpse of a plane – a Spitfire. It must have been skirting the west coast of England and got lost.
As my Uncle saw the Spitfire, so the pilot caught a glimpse of the sea-front and, rolling the plane onto its elegant wing, he swept towards the dangerous shore-line, descended rapidly, wheels-down for an emergency landing. The coughing Merlin engine indicated fuel problems.
My Uncle, impressed with the touch-down on the uneven runway watched as the plane taxied to a halt. The canopy opened and a young pilot – a Czech, as my Uncle later learned – bounded across to my Uncle watching over the sea-wall.
“Liverpool??!!!” the pilot asked excitedly.
My uncle shook his head sadly. “Dublin!” he explained.
Crestfallen, the pilot realised his costly error: internment in a neutral country.
The Advent scripture for today is the opening of Luke’s Gospel: the Angel Gabriel appears unexpectedly in Jerusalem to intercept the elderly priest Zechariah, the soon-to-be Father of John the Baptist. Unlike the Czech pilot, Gabriel’s navigation was impeccable: he was orchestrating God’s plan for the Birth of Jesus and key characters were being corralled and informed.
But Zechariah is tetchy – his big day is being ruined and he questions the words of Gabriel: so Zechariah is silenced until the Baptist is born.
Lord, although I might have big plans for today, help me to be open to the unexpected with patience and generosity. Amen.