Gospel & Reflection for the Third Sunday of Advent.
Matthew 1:18-24
This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.’ Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel,, a name which means ‘God-is-with-us.’ When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home.
Reflection
Friends, in 1873, along with three other volunteers, a Belgian Priest by the name of Fr. Damien De Veuster began working with a colony of people suffering from leprosy on a small Hawaiian island called Molokai. For the next eleven years, Fr. Damien taught this outcasted community the Catholic faith, but he also cared for patients, built houses, schools, hospitals, and churches. He dressed residents’ ulcers, built a reservoir, made coffins, dug graves, and provided much needed medical, emotional and spiritual support.
Every Sunday Father Damien would begin his sermon with the words: “You lepers know that God loves you.” However, one Sunday Father Damien began his sermon by saying: “We lepers know that God loves us.” Father Damien had contracted leprosy himself. Yet, he went on loving and serving until his death in 1898. Father Damien De Veuster was a man who cast his lot with that unfortunate and shattered community, but he gave himself completely to them.
Our Gospel for this fourth, and final Sunday of Advent reminds us that God cast His lot with the whole world, and He invested Himself completely to us. This was made possible through the faith, and faithfulness of both Mary and Joseph. We are told in the Gospel that “Mary was betrothed to Joseph”. During biblical times, a betrothal constituted a legally ratified marriage but the bride, continued to live at her own family home for about a year following the betrothal. So, Mary was not engaged to Joseph as is sometimes said. She was his legal wife, just not living with him.
But their betrothal gets caught up in controversy. Before the mandatory year-long partition is at an end, Mary becomes pregnant through the Holy Spirit. It can’t be downplayed how scandalous and dangerous this situation was for Mary. Very few would have been willing to believe a story of an Angel and an immaculate conception! Instead, they would have been more likely to see things from a judgmental, immoral point of view and under Jewish law such a case was punishable by death through stoning.
But Joseph’s response to it all is very unexpected. He obviously has listened to what Mary has had to say and while troubled and distracted over it all, he still decides to protect Mary from the possible fatal misunderstanding of the community to her situation. Joseph believes what Mary told him about the Angel. Joseph makes an act of faith and trust, and it is when he has taken that leap of faith – after he has responded without asking for proof – that God reveals the truth of it all to him anyway. The proof that he never asked for, was provided by God Himself.
Isn’t it interesting how God reveals Himself to Joseph after he taken a leap of faith, not before! Very often and understandably so, we can question the presence and will of God in our lives especially when we face any difficulty, sadness or disappointment. It can be difficult to trust. However, Joseph and Mary present us with another response – they encourage us to draw even nearer to the God who may baffle us at times, and they ask us to trust Him even more. They would say that in the best of times and the worst of times, leap towards God and never turn from Him. They ask us to surrender to God, not resist Him.
Friends, often when we do trust and surrender to the will of God, just as Joseph did, only then does the wisdom and understanding of God’s plan and will for our lives comes clear. Resistance simply closes us from seeing His presence and reason in our life’s experiences. On this final Sunday before Christmas, we are now ready to celebrate the gift of ‘Emmanuel’ – a name which means ‘God is with us.’ But ‘Emmanuel’ was not the name given by Mary to Christ! Emmanuel is who He is. Mary and Joseph gave Him the name ‘Jesus’ meaning ‘God Saves’.
We are challenged today to bow always to the divine will of God – the God who is with us, the God who saves us – the God who will reveal Himself to us when we place our trust in Him.
Every Sunday Father Damien would begin his sermon with the words: “You lepers know that God loves you.” However, one Sunday Father Damien began his sermon by saying: “We lepers know that God loves us.” Father Damien had contracted leprosy himself. Yet, he went on loving and serving until his death in 1898. Father Damien De Veuster was a man who cast his lot with that unfortunate and shattered community, but he gave himself completely to them.
Our Gospel for this fourth, and final Sunday of Advent reminds us that God cast His lot with the whole world, and He invested Himself completely to us. This was made possible through the faith, and faithfulness of both Mary and Joseph. We are told in the Gospel that “Mary was betrothed to Joseph”. During biblical times, a betrothal constituted a legally ratified marriage but the bride, continued to live at her own family home for about a year following the betrothal. So, Mary was not engaged to Joseph as is sometimes said. She was his legal wife, just not living with him.
But their betrothal gets caught up in controversy. Before the mandatory year-long partition is at an end, Mary becomes pregnant through the Holy Spirit. It can’t be downplayed how scandalous and dangerous this situation was for Mary. Very few would have been willing to believe a story of an Angel and an immaculate conception! Instead, they would have been more likely to see things from a judgmental, immoral point of view and under Jewish law such a case was punishable by death through stoning.
But Joseph’s response to it all is very unexpected. He obviously has listened to what Mary has had to say and while troubled and distracted over it all, he still decides to protect Mary from the possible fatal misunderstanding of the community to her situation. Joseph believes what Mary told him about the Angel. Joseph makes an act of faith and trust, and it is when he has taken that leap of faith – after he has responded without asking for proof – that God reveals the truth of it all to him anyway. The proof that he never asked for, was provided by God Himself.
Isn’t it interesting how God reveals Himself to Joseph after he taken a leap of faith, not before! Very often and understandably so, we can question the presence and will of God in our lives especially when we face any difficulty, sadness or disappointment. It can be difficult to trust. However, Joseph and Mary present us with another response – they encourage us to draw even nearer to the God who may baffle us at times, and they ask us to trust Him even more. They would say that in the best of times and the worst of times, leap towards God and never turn from Him. They ask us to surrender to God, not resist Him.
Friends, often when we do trust and surrender to the will of God, just as Joseph did, only then does the wisdom and understanding of God’s plan and will for our lives comes clear. Resistance simply closes us from seeing His presence and reason in our life’s experiences. On this final Sunday before Christmas, we are now ready to celebrate the gift of ‘Emmanuel’ – a name which means ‘God is with us.’ But ‘Emmanuel’ was not the name given by Mary to Christ! Emmanuel is who He is. Mary and Joseph gave Him the name ‘Jesus’ meaning ‘God Saves’.
We are challenged today to bow always to the divine will of God – the God who is with us, the God who saves us – the God who will reveal Himself to us when we place our trust in Him.
Fr. Richard
