Monday of the Third Week of Advent
Intention: We pray for a faith-filled and transforming Christmastime for our world, one that fills it with peace, justice, and good will toward all.
Today’s Gospel | Matthew 1:18-25
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. He had no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him Jesus.
A Reflection for the Third Monday of Advent
In today’s Gospel, we read an account of the conceiving of Jesus. What may be most significant about this narrative is what it suggests to us about the need for faith. In the years to follow, there would be many who would attack Jesus as a fraud precisely because of how and where and to whom he was born. Egocentric conclusions about the nature and will of God took the place of a true openness to his presence and his ways. Today, we continue to make this mistake over and over again. Jesus comes to us in unexpected forms and from unexpected directions and, because we think we already know him, we do not recognize him and so we do not accept him. As Enuma Okoro writes, “Openness to God demands our growing acceptance that we cannot create blueprints for our own lives. Though God’s character is unchanging, the ways of God are unpredictable.” The time of Advent is a time to reflect on our trust in God, and especially in the daily surprises and challenges that are his presence.
Prayer
Eternal Father, you call us to new life, new hope, new possibilities. In your Son, you challenge the ways that we close ourselves off from you and from each other. In the time of Advent, open our understanding to the value and purpose of all things, so that we do not diminish anyone or anything. May we be instruments of your compassion for persons who we would rather ignore, and of your wisdom for experiences that we would rather overlook. Make of us a humble and faith-filled people. We ask this of you who lives and reigns with your Son and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.”