Reading of the Holy Gospel according to Matthew 1, 18-24
Dear Friends,
All religious experience tries to balance two dominant forces that flow from being a creature in the presence of the Creator: comfort and challenge. Only a mature faith is able to balance the two in a creative tension.
In today’s Gospel story we have two phrases that are profoundly comforting: “be not afraid” and “Emmanuel” which means God is with us.
In fact, the phrase "be not afraid" is used over three hundred times in Scripture. The Infancy narratives of Luke and Matthew express this phrase four times. It is always related to the presence of God in a challenging situation such as Joseph’s encounter with Mary’s pregnancy.
“Emmanuel “reveals God’s faithfulness and involvement in all human reality. God is always present calling us into the mystery of new life and new love. On this fourth Sunday of Advent we begin to recall the great event of God becoming human in the person of Jesus for the ultimate revelation of that saving involvement in the call to new life and new love. Our challenge is to be open and accepting of the call on God’s terms.
While “be not afraid” and “Emmanuel” are profoundly comforting statements, Mary and Joseph needed all the support they could get. If you do the minimal analysis of their situation, the challenge to their relationship is enormous. Anytime the betrothed says she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit where does the dialogue go from there? Add the fact that the child is to be the Savior of his people, the only saving grace would have to be divine intervention. That’s what happened!
Flowing from the divine intervention and, the fact that the child is going to be the Savior of his people, you would have to have certain reasonable expectations. Called on the road by the census, you would think that they would at least get a five-star Westin or Regency or at minimum a Holiday Inn with a supply of diapers given the high powered credentials of their child.
Mary and Joseph had to dig deep into the comforting and reassuring message of the angel to make any kind of sense of the reality of their poverty and uprooting that was part of the crisis that engulfed them. It truly challenged them to look with faith on the baby born in circumstances of such total vulnerability.
For Mary, it was just the beginning of a long journey of confusion and bewilderment. Only her faith and trust could comfort her in the midst of a challenge that brought victory only through the death on the Cross.
When you think about it, it is similar to our journey! It is no wonder that the great prayer of Advent is so relevant to our life. Come, Lord Jesus!
