Dear Friends
4th Sunday of Advent/Christmas

Today is the fourth and final Sunday of Advent. The Christmas cookies are either baked or will be this weekend and we’re scrambling to get those last-minute gifts ready to deliver in just a few days. There is a sense of expectation and longing in the air as we listen to Matthew’s version of events surrounding the birth of Jesus today. We save the really good story from Luke’s Gospel for the Christmas Masses. In Luke’s narrative—where we have the long arduous journey to Bethlehem, no room at the inn, a manger and the shepherds—the Blessed Mother has the starring role. But in Matthew’s Christmas story, St. Joseph is highlighted as one of the pivotal figures. Joseph is described as a “righteous” or “just” man. In the ancient languages, the two terms are interchangeable, and in the world of the Bible, anyone who is considered righteous or just is a person who is one with God. In other words, God and the just person think alike. They’re “on the same page” or “in alignment.” The righteous (or just) person thinks as God does!

According to first-century Jewish customs, marriage was a two-step process. What we would call the engagement period was in fact part of the actual marriage process. You were, in effect, married when you were formally engaged, even before any ceremonial tying-of-the-knot. So, when Joseph finds out that Mary is pregnant and he’s not the father, they are already married by first-century standards. He could have had her banished or even charged with adultery—and the punishment would have been severe. But primarily because Joseph is a just man—he and God are thinking alike—Matthew tells us Joseph simply chose to divorce Mary. But wait! There’s still more! Joseph is then made aware that he should take Mary as his wife because of the awesome power and the salvation God has in store for all humanity. And why is Joseph given this special information? Because he is a just person.

The angel (not Gabriel—He’s only in Luke’s Gospel), discloses to Joseph that the message of God’s love for humanity (already on the record from the ancient prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah) will now literally become flesh. Why does God decide to do this? Fortunately, the angel has answers for Joseph! God does this so that this child “will save his people from their sins.” Wow! Finally, at last, after that huge kerfuffle that messed everything up when Adam and Eve got involved with that talking snake and the fruit tree debacle, humanity could, at last, be SAVED. It wasn’t possible beforehand. It would literally take an act of God to undo what Adam and Eve had done!

Why does God do this? Because God LOVES human beings. Without a word of introduction, God decided to enter into the life of Abraham. “God so loved the world…” The prophets had been preaching the same message for centuries, yet humanity literally needed an act of God to be convinced! And what a marvelous act that was. God became one with us in order that we could become one with God.

Regardless of whether you read the story from Matthew’s or Luke’s perspective, the result is the same. At long last, GOD IS WITH US. Yes, he has come to save us. Why? Because we cannot do it on our own. And therein lies the problem with the modern world: Too many of us, myself included, think that we don’t need to be saved. If we were really righteous or just like Joseph, we would recognize that indeed we do need to be saved. My 401K won’t save me. My comfortable lifestyle will ultimately end, and a doctor someday is going to say, “There’s nothing more we can do!” Before that day comes, I should become a righteous person, one who thinks the things of God. And I should try to avoid being a SELF-righteous person, one who believes that the world revolves around George and all the creature comforts he thinks will make him happy. I should rejoice that God has become one with us (Emmanuel!) and like St. Joseph, pray that I will be able to hear the voice of God calling me to allow Jesus to save me (from myself) so I can share in the eternal victory over sin and death itself.

So, as we celebrate the birth of Jesus this week, remember to “think the things of God.” Be a righteous (or just) person and rejoice that joy has come to our world, even as we wait for the Lord Jesus to come again.

A very Merry Christmas to everyone at Assumption and Resurrection. May your holidays be HOLYDAYS—recognizing what God has done for you and me!