Fourth Sunday of Advent - 2019

We begin this Fourth and final week of Advent in Matthew's gospel as he begins to tell the story of "...how the birth of Jesus Christ came about." In those days, the period of engagement of marriage was to last up to one year. The marriage covenant was official, they are married, but before the couple lived together, this one year waiting period would prove that the betrothed was indeed a virgin and that any child conceived would be that of the husband. Should a conception occur it prove infidelity and adultery on the part of the woman. The engagement/marriage would be broken off and the woman publicly disgraced. Matthew does not give us many details as to how all this unfolded with Joseph and Mary. This provides us with a wonderful opportunity to explore these questions in meditation and prayer. Matthew tells us, "... she was found with child." Here we are led to wonder did Mary explain her pregnancy to Joseph; how it was the work of God? Did Joseph believe her? We can only speculate. The text continues "... Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly." “… since he was a righteous man” This tells us that Joseph was a man of holy integrity and that he followed the Law of Moses in all its detail. Now, in the Book of Deuteronomy 22:23 we read: “If there is a virgin pledged in marriage to a man, and another man encounters her in the city and sleeps with her, you must take both of them out to the gate of that city and stone them to death—the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he has violated his neighbor’s wife. You must purge the evil from among you.…” What deep conflict must have been tearing at the heart of Joseph. Mary is pregnant! What to do – the law is clear as to what must be done. Joseph knows he must divorce Mary but surely God will permit him to spare her such humiliation and disgrace, even death. Now the hand of God is revealed through the angel Gabriel: "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. Joseph too must see the important role God is giving him to fulfill in this plan - "She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."  Dear friends, these stories are not fairy tales we bring out at Christmas to dress up in colourful scenes. They are real events that happened in the lives of real people. Recognizing this can we not identify with these humble people of God? Do we not have to face conflicts and challenges in our lives, struggling to understand, struggling to make sense of it – to find solutions just as they did? Our faith is not disconnected from our real life. On the contrary, it is intimately connected just as it was for Mary and Joseph. And when we make this connection our faith becomes a living, life saving dynamic reality guiding and supporting us throughout our life. Once we make this connection the stories of the lives of the people in the scriptures become learning centres, where we begin to learn how to recognize God’s hand in our lives. Do not let Christmas just be a fairy tale.

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Click to View Video The Road to Bethlehem by  Fritz von Uhde In reflecting on this painting, depicting a scene from Luke 2: 3-7, Geoff Wheaton SJ points out the love and concern of Joseph, the strength of Mary, and the poverty that Jesus was born into. How do you react to what you see?

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