IMMANUEL

December 18, Saturday

THIRD WEEK OF ADVENT

         When the kings of God’s people had not fulfilled their mission of guiding the people to God, the prophet Jeremiah announces that God would do away with them and become himself the shepherd of his people. But he will make this new beginning through a man, a virtuous shoot of the house of David. Through him, God would become his people’s integrity, the cause of our fidelity.

         In the New Testament, as Matthew tells us, Jesus is this Son of David through Joseph and Mary and at the same time, God’s own Son. He is indeed “God our integrity,” and Immanuel, “God-with-us,” Jesus, whose name means “Savior.”

 

First Reading: Jeremiah 23:5-8

“Time’s coming”—God’s Decree—
    “when I’ll establish a truly righteous David-Branch,
A ruler who knows how to rule justly.
    He’ll make sure of justice and keep people united.
In his time Judah will be secure again
    and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name they’ll give him:
    ‘God-Who-Puts-Everything-Right.’

“So watch for this. The time’s coming”—God’s Decree—“when no one will say, ‘As sure as God lives, the God who brought the Israelites out of Egypt,’ but, ‘As sure as God lives, the God who brought the descendants of Israel back from the north country and from the other countries where he’d driven them, so that they can live on their own good earth.’”

 

Gospel: Matthew 1:18-25

The birth of Jesus took place like this. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they came to the marriage bed, Joseph discovered she was pregnant. (It was by the Holy Spirit, but he didn’t know that.) Joseph, chagrined but noble, determined to take care of things quietly so Mary would not be disgraced.

While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God’s angel spoke in the dream: “Joseph, son of David, don’t hesitate to get married. Mary’s pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God’s Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus—‘God saves’—because he will save his people from their sins.” This would bring the prophet’s embryonic sermon to full term:

Watch for this—a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son;
They will name him Immanuel (Hebrew for “God is with us”).

Then Joseph woke up. He did exactly what God’s angel commanded in the dream: He married Mary. But he did not consummate the marriage until she had the baby. He named the baby Jesus.

 

Prayer

Lord, faithful God,
in Jesus, you have given us someone
taken from our human flesh and blood,

a man, yet your Son,
through whom you want to restore
integrity and fidelity among us.
With him, help us to give to you
and also to one another,
the proper and adequate response
of faithful, serving love,
that you expect from your people.
Be our God for ever
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

 

Reflection:

Be Calm, God is in control

In today’s Gospel, the theme of God’s closeness to humanity is the focal point. It shows us the two people who, more than anyone else, were involved in this mystery of love: the Virgin Mary and her husband, Joseph. the Gospel (cf. Mt 1:18-24) guides us to Christmas through the experience of St. Joseph, a person who is apparently in second place, but whose attitude contains the entirety of Christian wisdom. He, together with John the Baptist and Mary, is one of the people that the liturgy proposes to us for the time of Advent; and of the three he is the most modest. One who does not preach, does not speak, but tries to do God’s will.

The text that follows tells us of his dream and he gets a message. What a courage does he display to believe something that he saw in a dream! This text can be considered as the Annunciation to Joseph. Joseph is a just man because he is capable of discovering the finger of God in the mysterious happenings within and around him. How often do we get angry, scared and frustrated because we have no clue of things that happen in our lives, in our families or work places. If only we could go to Joseph of the Gospels and listen to his gentle whispers in our ears. Joseph will have only one message for us: “Be Calm, God is in control”

In a year that we may feel darkened by a pandemic, lack of access to the Sacraments, civil unrest, natural disasters, not to mention all the ills we continue to witness, attacks on marriage, human life and the family, St. Joseph is providentially offered to us as a sign of God’s constant kindness and tender love for humanity. As St. Joseph guarded, defended, and protected the Holy Family, so does he guard, defend, and protect the family of Christ, each of us.

When Pope Francis declared the Year of St. Joseph last year, he invited all the faithful to walk with St. Joseph to emulate his virtues by discovering his “hidden life.” In the Gospels, Joseph does not speak a word, he is silent. But he followed the promptings deep with in – the messages in dreams. Let us put it this way: He accepted the promptings of his heart as God’s messages and surrendering him totally to God’s will, he made all important decisions for Mary and for Baby Jesus. And God blessed his decisions. When we live for God, he blesses our lives.

 

Video available on Youtube: Be Calm, God is in control