Are we so afraid of what the future may hold that we refuse to look for or acknowledge signs of promise or of doom? Are we like King Ahaz who, in the first reading today from Isaiah 7:10-14, said he didn’t want to put God to the test by asking for a sign? But Ahaz has already made up his mind and doesn’t want to consider any alternatives to what he thinks the future holds for him. So, Isaiah says, “The Lord is going to give you a sign whether you want it or not. The sign is a young woman who is about to give birth and the child will be called Emmanuel, which means ‘God-is-with-us’.”
Consider, therefore, that the future may be more hopeful than we want to imagine. It is with this sense of optimism that Paul could write, in the second reading from his letter to the Romans 1:1-7, where he says that he has been “specially chosen to preach the Good News that God promised long ago through the prophets in the scriptures.” We have also been “specially’ chosen to spread the Good News about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Turning to the gospel reading for today from Matthew 1:18-24, we are told how this Good News or this story begins. For Matthew, it begins with a possible scandal. A man by the name of Joseph is betrothed to a young woman called Mary. However, she is found to be with child. For you and me, the readers, we are told the secret, that Mary has conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit. But the people of their town and their families did not know that. So, Joseph prepared to quietly divorce Mary and save her public humiliation.
That’s when he had a dream wherein the angel of the Lord told him that Mary has conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit. He also advised Joseph not to be afraid. But to take Mary as his wife and name the child Jesus. This was to fulfil the promise made through the reading of Isaiah which we heard today, that a virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and he will be called “God-is-with-us”. This story ends by saying: Joseph woke, did what the angel told him and took Mary home as his wife. We’ve heard this story so many times but we forget that this story challenges us to always be open to what the future may hold for us. After all, the future may seem so dark and threatening at present and we have every reason to be afraid. But maybe we must allow Jesus to be reborn in our own hearts, to recognise that “God-is-with-us” and that we have been entrusted with a mission and a message that our hope is not in vain.
Let us pray for peace as we prepare to celebrate the great feast of Christmas.
Fr Tom Rouse, Regional Counsellor Aotearoa/New Zealand.
