Mt 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. These phrases mark the change in focus of the Advent message. The Incarnation of the coming Christmas Season is moving to center stage. Each of today’s readings is on this theme. Emanuel is born in time to be forever with his people and to call his people to be forever in the love of our saving God.
While the phrase “be not afraid” is used over three hundred times in Scripture, the Infancy narratives of Luke and Matthew convey this expression four times. It is always related to the supportive presence of God in a challenging situation such as Joseph’s dilemma with Mary’s pregnancy.
Just like the great ambiguity that Mary and Joseph faced, our lives are engulfed with the consequences of evil in our midst. Sickness, ignorance, prejudice, violence, and hatred come at us in all manner of ways. This is the reality of living with the seemingly endless battle of good and evil that is our daily fare. No sooner has Covid been reduced as a threat, than we have Putin’s war in the Ukraine. This incredible horror confronts us with human carnage, destruction of the environment, threat of nuclear disaster and the waste of all these resources to the neglect of the poor and hungry. This gross manifestation of evil affects everyone.
“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. This is the ultimate revelation of God’s saving involvement in our broken world. It is a 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 was 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!
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.
On this fourth Sunday of Advent as we recall the wonder of God’s becoming flesh, we are invited to embrace the great gift of Emmanuel. God is with us in love, mercy and saving grace in the person of Jesus, the son of Mary. Our challenge is to respond to this call of love on God’s terms.
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 ultimately brought her to the foot of 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!
In today’s Gospel story we have two phrases that are profoundly comforting: “be not afraid” and “Emmanuel” which means God is with us. These phrases mark the change in focus of the Advent message. The Incarnation of the coming Christmas Season is moving to center stage. Each of today’s readings is on this theme. Emanuel is born in time to be forever with his people and to call his people to be forever in the love of our saving God.
While the phrase “be not afraid” is used over three hundred times in Scripture, the Infancy narratives of Luke and Matthew convey this expression four times. It is always related to the supportive presence of God in a challenging situation such as Joseph’s dilemma with Mary’s pregnancy.
Just like the great ambiguity that Mary and Joseph faced, our lives are engulfed with the consequences of evil in our midst. Sickness, ignorance, prejudice, violence, and hatred come at us in all manner of ways. This is the reality of living with the seemingly endless battle of good and evil that is our daily fare. No sooner has Covid been reduced as a threat, than we have Putin’s war in the Ukraine. This incredible horror confronts us with human carnage, destruction of the environment, threat of nuclear disaster and the waste of all these resources to the neglect of the poor and hungry. This gross manifestation of evil affects everyone.
“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. This is the ultimate revelation of God’s saving involvement in our broken world. It is a 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 was 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!
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.
On this fourth Sunday of Advent as we recall the wonder of God’s becoming flesh, we are invited to embrace the great gift of Emmanuel. God is with us in love, mercy and saving grace in the person of Jesus, the son of Mary. Our challenge is to respond to this call of love on God’s terms.
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 ultimately brought her to the foot of 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!
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