Faith Amidst Uncertainty

 FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT

First Reading: Is 7:10-14

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 24:1-6

Second Reading: Rom 1:1-7

Gospel: Mt 1:18-24

Theme: Intervention, Messenger, Presence

On the Fourth Sunday of Advent, the Church calls us to meditate on the experience of St. Joseph during the unexpected "pregnancy" of Mary. As we look through the Gospel today, we see that God allows all of these things to happen to tell us that we are assured of God's intervention, messenger, and presence in times of trouble.

 

We are assured of God's intervention. In the ordinariness of a day, God is doing something for the good of all. In today's gospel, St. Joseph was concerned about what would happen to Mary if she was discovered pregnant by other people while having no proper relations with men, because the penalty for this is death by stoning. Due to St. Joseph's love for Mary, he got a little anxious about what would happen to her. This is the divine intervention of God, when God sends an angel to announce to St. Joseph what is happening. And so, this tells us that God is gracious to those who ask for his assistance to understand what is happening at the present moment.

 

We are assured of God's messenger. In our experience of life, there are things that suddenly come to us as a blessing and a help. In the case of St. Joseph's experience, God sends an angel to tell him not to be afraid to take Mary, his wife, into his home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. Throughout our lives, there are things for which we are grateful to God for providing us with this or that person who inspired and assisted us in drawing closer to Christ and directing us in the right direction. And so, this tells us that we should recognize and appreciate the people that God has gifted us to be with.

 

We are assured of God's presence. In the latter part of the gospel, it is said that the child to be born shall be named Emmanuel, which means "God is with us." According to CCC 470, "The Son of God worked with human hands; he thought with a human mind. He acted with a human will, and with a human heart, he loved. Born of the Virgin Mary, he has truly been made one of us, like us in all things except sin." This is the explanation of how God is truly with us: He became like one of us except for sin, and so we can experience His presence in our human limitedness, relate with Him, and experience His love for becoming one of us to save us and to be with Him.

 

Thus, God is so gracious to us for giving us his intervention, messenger, and presence. In the receptivity and docility of St. Joseph, may we be inspired to become like a faithful and obedient follower of Christ, ready to receive and heed the message of the Lord.