Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent
Intention: We pray for a faith-filled and transforming Christmastime for our world, one that fills us 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 Short Reflection for the Third Wednesday of Advent
In today’s Gospel, we read a story about Joseph, the husband of Mary. In it, Joseph is struggling with the news that Mary is expecting a child that he knows he did not father. He also knows and fears what surely will be the outraged reaction of his community to this news. His angst over how best to resolve the dilemma while protecting Mary says much about Joseph’s compassionate and heroic character. It also says much about the challenge that all of us must face when called to deeper faith. In Joseph’s case, he was being called not just to simple piety, but to sudden and complete self-abandonment to God’s providence. Like Mary, he was being called to enter into the mystery and demands of God’s often inscrutable ways, and to choose whether or not to say ‘yes.’ In one way or another, this decision eventually confronts us all. When God comes to us in unexpected forms and from unknown directions, what will be our response to his divine surprise? Will we make excuses for having limits to our faith, or will we find the courage to welcome the trials of true discipleship? Author 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 come to terms with the demands of true faith.
Prayer
Eternal Father, as we await the celebration of the day when your Son was born, we find ourselves in a world that often neglects his Gospel in our daily lives. We sing songs of praise, yet we do not listen to their words. We pray to be led to redemption, yet we do not follow as disciples. Help us in this Advent to finally understand that to celebrate Christmas is to change our hearts and open our lives to the gift of being able to build your Kingdom. We ask this of you who lives and reigns with your Son and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.