My Dear People, 

Matthew’s Gospel for the fourth Sunday of Advent concentrates on the events that took place just before Jesus was born. Matthew, a Jew, relates the prophecy through Mary. When the angel appeared to Mary and told her she was going to have a Son, the angel also told Mary to name Him Jesus (Yashua in Hebrew—meaning God saves). Mary replied that she had not had relations with a man. The angel responded that the Holy Spirit will overshadow her and she will conceive this child. His name will be Jesus, and He will save the people from their sins. 

Saved from sin is not the same as “saved from the consequence of sin.” Jesus did not come merely to save us from hell but to save us from sinning. He came to enable us to live holy lives. A life of sin is miserable; in fact, it is a kind of hell on earth. But sin is addictive, and we need a Higher Power—really, a Higher Person—to become free. 

As in the Old Testament, Joseph, son of Jacob, was a great dreamer, God now communicates with this New Testament Joseph, son of Jacob (Matt 1:16) through dreams. The angel does not call Him “Son of Jacob” but calls Him “Son of David,” emphasizing Joseph’s connection to promises and the covenant attached to the House of David, including Isaiah’s promise of an “Emmanuel” to be born of a “maiden” of the dynasty. Joseph, in fact, was heir to the throne of David. Had the Davidic dynasty been in control of the throne in the first century BC, Joseph would have been reigning in Jerusalem. As it was, he was doing manual labor in Nazareth, a tiny hamlet in the back hills of Israel.

Why a descendant of royalty in such a remote place? Probably the Davidic clan settled in Nazareth to be far away from politically volatile places like Jerusalem. Having royal blood was a political liability unless you controlled the throne. Herod the Great was currently in control of the throne, and he, an importer without royal blood, was half Jewish, and his father was an Edomite. 

Although Matthew only gives the genealogy of Joseph (Matt 1:2-16), we can have moral confidence that Mary, too, was from the line of David. That is the constant tradition of the Church. Moreover, it makes sense, as villages were settled by clans in those days, and so all the villagers were typically members of the same extended family from an illustrious ancestor.   Probably, all the townspeople of Nazareth were of Davidic lineage. 

Through Mary will come the one who will “fill up” the prophecy originally directed toward Hezekiah. But Jesus will be “Emmanuel” in a much more profound sense: not merely a sign of God’s presence but God’s presence in the flesh. Hezekiah’s mother Abijah was only a “maiden” before she went into Ahaz.  Jesus’ Mother, Mary, was a maiden before, during, and after His birth. Jesus completely fulfills the ancient prophecy directed to the House of David.

When we step back and meditate on these readings, we see the common theme is the invasion of God’s presence into the lives of people. God offers to intervene in the life of Ahaz, and the king’s response is “thanks, but no thanks.” God processes liturgically into Jerusalem, and the people greet Him with acclamation in Psalm 24.

In the Gospel, God “invades” the lives of Mary and Joseph with His presence. Perhaps their aspirations were nothing more than to lead quiet and peaceful lives, and to try to raise a family in Nazareth while awaiting the fulfillment of God’s promises to their ancestors through the prophets. Little did they know that God would use their lives to fulfill all the promises they had read or heard about. 

But the presence of God in their lives means an end of business as usual and the typical comfort of ordinary life. Joseph is disturbed to find his fiancée pregnant and fears to marry her, either because he suspects wrongdoing on her part or because he is hesitant to espouse a woman so holy as to be set apart for the conception of divinity. Mary and Joseph’s hope to be just an average middle-class couple living the “Israelite dream” are dashed. Their lives are not going to be normal or typical.

The angel guides Joseph to his next step—completing his marriage to Mary. We know that the coming months will involve more strain and stress—a long journey to Bethlehem in the late stage of pregnancy followed by a midnight flight from Bethlehem to Egypt to flee from persecution. 

Mary and Joseph’s life will never again be average and comfortable because when God “invades” our lives, He incorporates us into His plan of salvation for the world, and we have to partake of the suffering of the man named, “Salvation” (Rom 8:17). 

At Mass, we prepare to receive the “divine invasion” of the Eucharist, when God again will enter our lives and our bodies, “Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity.” 

Are we ready for that?   Are we ready to let our lives go off course?  Off into a new direction?  

 Perhaps even an uncomfortable direction because God is now living in us?

[Parts taken from Reflection on the Sunday Mass Readings by Dr. John Bergdsma]

Yous in Christ,

Fr. Vincent Clemente