Gospel: Fourth Sunday of Advent

Today marks the Fourth Sunday of Advent, and the Gospel will be proclaimed according to St Matthew (tap here for today's Mass readings from USCCB).

Finally, on this last Sunday of Advent, our Gospel Reading permits us to begin our contemplation of the mystery of the Incarnation we celebrate at Christmas: "Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about" (Matthew 1:18).

The Gospel of St Matthew tells the story of the birth of Jesus from St Joseph's perspective. Today's Gospel passage is the second movement of this story. In the preceding verses of the first chapter, the evangelist has listed the genealogy of Jesus, tracing his roots through King David to Abraham. In the chapter to follow, St Matthew tells of the visit from the Magi, the Holy Family's flight to Egypt, and Herod's massacre of the infants in Bethlehem. (The other stories which we associate with Christmas, the Annunciation, the Visitation, the angel and the shepherds, are found in St Luke's Gospel).

We must not gloss over too quickly the difficult circumstances described in today's Gospel. The way that St Joseph and the Blessed Mother face these circumstances tells us much about these holy people and their faith in God. St Joseph and Mary are bethrothed to be married. This is sometimes described as an engagement period, but it is more than that. Betrothal in first century Jewish culture was in fact the first part of the marriage contract. A breach of this contract is considered adultery. Our Lady is found to be with child. If adultery is proven, the punishment might be death. St Joseph has rights under the Law of Moses, but chooses to act discreetly in his plans to break the marriage contract, so as to protect the Blessed Mother. Then God intervenes.

The message of the angel of the Lord given to St Joseph in his dream tells us much about the child that Our Lady bears and his role in God's plan. He is conceived by the Holy Spirit. His name will be Jesus, which in the Hebrew means "Yahweh saves." He will be the fulfillment of the prophecy heard in today's first reading from the Prophet Isaiah: ". . . the virgin shall be with child . . . and shall name him Emmanuel [God with us]."

St Joseph does as the angel of the Lord directs. He takes Mary to be his wife and accepts the child in her womb as his own. The couple was both cooperaive of God's plan. They are both models for us of what it means to be faithful servants of God.

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Picture from Pexels.