4th Sunday of Advent
My dear parishioners,
God is Good!!! All the time!!! And all the time!!! God is Good!!!
In this reading, God sends the prophet to meet Ahaz just when the king is taking steps to secure his kingdom from attack. The king is determined to solve his problems by turning to earthly resources alone. The prophet offers him another and more promising alternative for deliverance.
Invitation. To win the king over to the advantages of faith, Isaiah invites him to ask any sign from God that will help him move beyond his doubts. The king can choose a sign from any part of creation; he can select one from the unseen depths of the netherworld, or the unexplored heights of heaven. Isaiah’s point is that God is prepared to offer the king every advantage in making progress in faith.
Promise. The king declines this invitation. He cannot imagine God can provide what he needs. He masks his lack of faith as a gesture of respect for God; he does not want to tempt the Lord. In fact, the king has already decided to defend his kingdom in conventional ways. Isaiah is not fooled by the king’s display. The king is already disappointing the people with his failed policies. Will he now disappoint even God? To challenge the king to greater faith, Isaiah declares that God will choose the sign. It is a sign of new life that God alone could give. A virgin will conceive and bear a son. She will name the child “God is with us” because by the time the child is born, it will be apparent that God has indeed delivered the people just as Isaiah said
Gospel. Today’s Gospel presents Matthew’s version of the infancy narrative. The purpose of the story is to inform the reader or hearer that Mary’s virginal conception of Jesus was in fact the work of the Holy Spirit. The drama of the story unfolds around Joseph and his response to all this. For Matthew, this interconnection between the human and the divine is understood as the fulfillment of the prophesy of Isaiah 7:14.
Compassion surpasses righteousness. The events surrounding the birth of Jesus are all extraordinary. Mary is pregnant, but not by Joseph, her betrothed. Joseph is a just and wise man who reminds us of Joseph the patriarch in Genesis 37-50. However, Joseph’s righteousness is surpassed by his compassion, and so he is unwilling to expose Mary publicly. His plan is to divorce her quietly and disappear from the story.
The dream. Joseph’s plan is interrupted by a dream wherein the angel of the Lord reveals to him that things are not what they appear to be. Here is where Matthew unfolds the Christological identity of Jesus. Mary is indeed pregnant, but this has happened mysteriously through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph is from the house of David, Jesus, through adoption, will also be from that house, thus being a son of David. His name, Jesus, will designate his mission, “YHWH saves.”
Excerpts from “Sunday Homily Helps”, is used by permission of Franciscan Media. www.FranciscanMedia.org. All rights reserved
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Aloysius