Thursday of the Third Week of Advent

Today's Mass Readings

In this late Advent weekday, our focus is turned more fully on the coming of Jesus as an infant born in Bethlehem. Today we hear proclaimed the gospel passage from Matthew. In this selection, Joseph receives a dream telling him not to divorce her, although he knows she is pregnant and it is not from him. The message from the angel convinces Joseph to marry his betrothed, and this story also is crucial for us who strive to understand who Jesus is. All who hear this gospel proclaimed are to understand that this babe will save his people from their sins; he is Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.” In the darkness of these winter months, “God is with us” should be a comfort, a light in the darkness. When we look at the first reading, a passage from the prophet Jeremiah, we find Jesus’ coming foretold, and again, we get some sense of who Jesus is: he is a king; he is justice; he saves his people. Psalm 72 also complements this theme of understanding Jesus: he rescues the poor and afflicted and he governs with justice.

The God who is with us is a God who cares for every person, who loves every person, and who offers his own life as a ransom for our salvation. His justice is not cold-hearted, but rather the mercy of self-sacrificial love, love which begins with Jesus’ Incarnation and birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Christmas.

While the understanding of Jesus as “God with us” is a comfort, it is also a challenge. When we look at Joseph, we see that his life was made unbelievably more complicated by agreeing to take Mary as his wife and accept Jesus as his foster son. But Joseph had to respond to the message of the angel. We also have to understand to the message of the angel, even though it makes our lives more difficult. When Jesus comes into our lives, it is truly transformative. “God is with us” means that we recognize Christ as king, as ultimate justice, as the one who saves his people, who cares for the poor and afflicted.

In this season of Advent we are called first to accept God’s great love in becoming God-with-us. Then we must strive to take the next step, namely, letting him come to us and transform our lives, such that his concerns become our concerns. If Christ is our king, then we must also seek justice and care for the poor and afflicted. Today, let us take some time to think about how we might better embody the understanding of Jesus as God-with-us. Let us pray that we might come to know God’s love more fully and hence embrace the truly just life alongside Christ our King.

- Maria Morrow