Emmanuel, God is with Us"

Today's Mass Readings

If each of us looked back into our lives, perhaps we could find people who have carried us through just by being with us; or there are people we have carried through just by being with them. They did not solve our problems or we could not work magic for them, but rather, just “being with” those in need works miracles.

Today’s readings express the same sentiment. To Judah, a nation in crisis, Isaiah promises that God would come to them as “Emmanuel.” In the gospel reading today, that prophecy was fulfilled. At the annunciation, the angle Gabriel announced to Mary the she would conceive and bear a son just as had been promised by Isaiah, and that his name would be “Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.”

John, in his gospel, gives no account of the nativity of Jesus. He talks about the incarnation by saying, “The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” If we look at the literal translation from Hebrew, “flesh” would mean, the “whole person of the divinity” and “made his dwelling” would mean, “pitched his tent or tabernacle” among us.

The context of John's statement come from the Old Testament where the Ark of the Covenant was initially kept in a tent/tabernatcle, and the glory/presence of the Lord would cover the tent. This was the tabernacle of the Old Testament. A cloud would cover the tent as a sign of God’s presence. Later the Temple of Jerusalem became dwelling of God. The holy of holies was the place of the presence of the Lord. The Temple was first destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BC and then again in 70 AD by the Romans. However, these earthly dwellings have been replaced by a new temple, a new tent, a new tabernacle – the tabernacle of the real presence of God in and through Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. If there is one thing that we Catholics take for granted – it is the presence of the all holy God in the Blessed Sacrament. “Emmanuel, God is with us” in every tabernacle of every church.

Before Christmas, spend time in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. In this Sacrament, “God is with us.”

- Fr. Satish Joseph