FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT A

[cappie]

God breaks into human history bringing divine plans to fruition through ordinary people. We see this pattern all through scripture. This pattern of God working through people is no less true in the most important divine plan in history, as the Word became flesh in Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. God used Mary and Joseph in a plan to turn the world upside-down, which was really setting everything right once more, in Jesus. Knowing them as Mary and  Joseph can hide the fact that, though this couple were amazing, unique in all history, they were also very much human.

 Here in St Matthew’s Gospel, we find Joseph wanting to do the right thing. Breaking an engagement took a divorce decree, and divorce had to be requested by either party and witnessed by three others to be legal, so it was not as easy a matter as it might be today to end an engagement. Joseph wants to handle this in a way that would not harm Mary. Then an angel comes to Joseph in a dream, saying, “ 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..”

Joseph believes the dream and Matthew tells 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..” Joseph accepted the invitation to participate in God’s plan of salvation, just as Mary had already done.

So, Joseph marries Mary. She has a child whom Joseph names Jesus, which means “God saves.” God will save and God will do it through Jesus, but Mary and Joseph were essential to the plan. Mary had to consent to the pregnancy and Joseph to the marriage.

 Through the Incarnation, we see how God acts, even in the extraordinary case of the birth of Jesus. While God becoming human in Jesus is a once-in-all-history event, God does regularly prompt people like you and me to take part  in what God is doing through serving others, as though we are serving Jesus.

The King of Creation was not born in a palace to a life of luxury. After Jesus is born, Mary and Joseph will take him to the Temple to offer two turtledoves; the Torah required a lamb, however, Leviticus 12:8 noted that poor families could offer two birds instead, as a lamb would present a financial hardship. The Holy Family qualifies for what amounts to a hardship discount. Jesus will later serve others on the road where he is frequently a guest who relies on the hospitality of others, as a stranger welcomed by others. Jesus sees the needs around him everywhere among the members of his human family.

God will find a way to care for those in need, using someone else if we fail to respond. God will work out God’s purposes through whoever is willing to listen to the promptings of their hearts. While you and I will not be invited to such a momentous task as Joseph, we no less can take part in what God is doing. Jesus makes it clear that small acts of providing food for the hungry and drink for the thirsty are of eternal significance. In these small ways, we get to participate in the coming Reign of God by being God’s hands and feet in the world. This is part of how God breaks into human history, bringing divine plans to fruition through ordinary people.

 For St Joseph, and for us, the heart of the matter is the simple promise that “God is with us.”   The impossible becomes possible because Joseph, and now each one of us, is able to  work out  that no matter what lies ahead, we will not have to face it alone. God—Love—is about to be born into the world and we all are invited to be a part of it. “God is with us; Love resides here.” This is the Truth we set our gaze upon so that we can gather up all the strength and energy we’ll need to  draw strength and courage. It’s time. Love is waiting to be born.