MOTHERHOOD OF MARY (NEW YEAR 2023)

 Mary, Mother of God and New Year 2023 [Lk 2:16-21]

01.01.2023

The Message of the Shepherds and Mary’s Faith-Response

Readings: (1) Num 6:22-27 (2) Gal 4:4-7

1.    Focus Statement

As we begin a New Year, Mother Church invites us to constantly imitate the most important features of Mary’s Motherhood: (1) receiving the Word of God in faith, (2) treasuring it in her heart and pondering its significance for one’s life. 

2.    Theme in brief

Treasuring the Word in our hearts and pondering it

3.    Explanation of the text

In today’s gospel passage we notice three categories of people responding to the event of Christ’s birth in three different ways. First category is the shepherds, to whom the breaking news of the Messiah’s birth is announced by the angels. Their faith-response of the shepherds is made clear by their efforts to make known to others what had been told to them about new-born Saviour (2:17) and to glorify and praise God for all they had heard from the angels and seen in the manger (2:20).They “saw” (of course, with the eyes of faith) the greatest ‘thing’ (event) that had taken place – the event of God taking birth in a human form and stooping down to be born in a manger.

Second category are the hearers of the words of the shepherds, the public who were only amazed at what the shepherds told them (2:18), but did not respond to that message in faith. They are like the ones who hear the Word but do not respond with faith because of lack of roots (cf. Lk 8:13).

Then we are told about the faith-response of Mary who treasured the Word of God (announced by the shepherds) and pondered its significance in her heart (2:19).  She is like those who after hearing the Word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and produce a hundredfold fruit (Lk 8:8, 15). Thus in today’s gospel, Mary is presented as a model for reflection and introspection into our life on the basis of God’s Word. What the shepherds ‘saw’ was God’s boundless love revealed through the image of an ordinary family that was guided by the faith-reflections of a mother.

Mary’s role of treasuring all the words of the shepherds (in fact, God’s word) and pondering them in her heart (2:19) highlights an important aspect of her motherhood: listening to God’s Word reflectively, keeping it as a precious treasure in her heart and pondering (literally chewing over) its meaning and relevance or significance for her (our) life. Luke repeats this important trait of Mother Mary later in 2:51 also, where he says that Mary treasured the words of Jesus regarding his mission to be in his Father’s house. As she (as well as Joseph) did not understand those words immediately (2:50), she pondered or deeply reflected over their meaning.

In Luke’s gospel, the shepherds’ going to Bethlehem in haste (2:16) is very much related to Mary’s setting out in haste to the hill country of Judea to visit Elizabeth (1:39) in the sixth month of her pregnancy (1:36). Whereas the haste with which shepherds hurried to Bethlehem implies their eagerness to hear, see and share with others or proclaim the good news of salvation, Mary’s haste refers to her eagerness to serve her relative Elizabeth during her pregnancy. We can imagine how Mary’s faith and reflections on God’s Word overflow into action (that is, service rendered or charity done to the needy).

Later in Luke’s gospel we see him presenting Mary as the prototype of all the disciples who become like ‘mothers’ and ‘brothers/sisters’ of Jesus by hearing the Word of God and doing it, that is,  living by it  or putting it into practice (Lk 8:19-21). She also becomes the prototype of all those who become blessed because of their hearing and obeying the Word of God (Lk 11:27-28). Hence the title “Blessed Virgin Mother” suits her very well.

4.    Application to life 

By keeping the feast of the Motherhood of Mary on New Year Day, the Church wants us to begin the New Year with her blessing and under her maternal protection. As she is our Heavenly Mother, we entrust all the days of this year to her motherly care and tender love. We hope that she will not forget her children all year long as we often pray to her, “Remember O Most Gracious Virgin Mary…..”

It is right to ask how New Year is related to this feast. What is the significance of the connection between Motherhood of Mary and New Year? It is said that the name of the first month of the year, "January" comes from the pagan god of Rome called Janus.  He was a double-faced god depicted in opposite directions, one face looking to the past and the other looking to the future. This idea fits very well with the features of Mary’s Motherhood. As explained above, Mary is a model of reflection and introspection on how we lived the past year and how we are going to live the future during this New Year. New Year is a new stage in our life to examine the past and look forward to the future. In spite of some failure of the past and anxieties of the unknown future, especially when the whole world is still struggling with Covid-19 variants, we are called to took forward to future with hope.

Socrates, the great Greek philosopher said, “An unexamined life is not worth living”. This idea of self-examination of the past and looking forward to a purpose-driven future, matches well with what Luke hints in today's gospel about an important trait of Mary's Motherhood: hearing the Word of God and pondering its meaning and relevance or significance for her life. She discovered God’s will and plans for her by treasuring God’s Word in her heart and pondering over its meaning, significance and relevance. She came to know about divine revelation through the message (words) of the shepherds, and God’s will in the event of finding Jesus in the Temple.

Mary did not know or understand the full meaning of neither the incarnation or the mission of her Son. She must have understood the full implications of this Christ-event only after the resurrection and Pentecost. From day one, she must have asked herself these questions again and again: who her Child really was; why he chose to be born in a stable under such a miserable condition; why he choose to be born of an ordinary girl like her; and why he chose the poor shepherds to give the good news of his birth and visit her family. Our entire Christian life is centred on who Jesus is for us and what it means to follow him in our times. Like her, we are to discover God’s plans for us in this New Year in the light of the Word of God.

As Mary pondered over the words of the shepherds (that is, God’s word) and the events that took place in her life, we too are invited today to reflect over the events of the past year and compare them with the purpose, vision and mission of our life. A vision or our personal dream is a mental image or picture of the ideal we wish to realize in our life-time. Some people dream only for their own personal prosperity and selfish needs, forgetting totally about the needs of the world, country and humanity. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (former President of India) calls such a dream only a small dream, though many think it is their big dream. He says that a small dream is a ‘crime’. Yes, it is a crime to be concerned only about oneself, one’s own progress and prosperity and not at all about problems of the world.

God has sent us with a definite purpose to make a small or big contribution for humanity which is God’s own cause. New Year is the best opportunity to see whether we have done our dream to our satisfaction. If not, as Abdul Kalam says, we need to activate our inner energy to translate our vision into better action in the New Year. Following Mary’s example, we need to introspect or ponder and see whether we are living our lives by chance or by personal choice. What were the wrong choices we made in the last year; and how are we going to make better choices in this year? On the New Year day, our Heavenly Mother invites us to make a review of life and recall to our mind the steps we need to take in order to live a purpose-driven life.

Mary is our best guide in our soul-searching questions. She becomes a model believer for her efforts to discover the meaning of life-events in the light of faith. She discovered God’s plans for her by treasuring God’s Word in her heart and pondering over its meaning and relevance. In the light of God’s Word, she reflected deeply on all the events of her life in order to discern what God was saying to her at every stage in her life. She is like those believers who after hearing the Word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and “bear fruit with patient endurance” (Lk 8:15), as Jesus has explained in the Parable of the Sower. Such believers are like the good soil that produces a hundredfold fruit (Lk 8:15).

The feast of Motherhood of Mary is closely related to the role of the Church (that is, all Christian believers) as a mother. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus asserts that his family extends beyond kinship relationships. He says : “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the Word of God and do it” (Lk 8:21). Here Mary is presented as the prototype (model) of all those who become mothers and brothers or sisters of Jesus by hearing the Word of God and doing it (Lk 8:19-21). Doing it means living by it. To live by it, we need to receive it in faith and ponder its implications for our situation. Like Mother Mary, we too are called to become ‘mothers’, of course ‘spiritual mothers’ to others by “doing” God’s Word. The whole Church needs to become what she really is, that is, a ‘mother’ of God (or Christ) because God is needing to be ‘born’ again and again in the hearts of people; his self-giving love, compassion for the marginalized, forgiveness of sinners or offenders and concern for the needy must take birth through believers like us. She truly becomes a spiritual mother by hearing the Word of God and doing it, just like Mother Mary. If we had not sufficiently become like mothers by our failure to show tender love, nursing and nurturing qualities of a mother in our relationships in the past year, the Church presents to us the model of Mother Mary to become more ‘motherly’ in the New Year.

Luke mentions Mary’s role of treasuring things in her heart twice in his gospel (cf. the explanation above) to show that she discovered God’s will both in his Word and in her life’s events. She came to know about divine revelation through the message (words) of the shepherds, and God’s will in the event of finding Jesus in the Temple. She understood the full implications of this event only after the resurrection and Pentecost. She had to go on discovering God’s ways gradually till the end of her life. God speaks to us today also through divine revelation (Word of God and its interpretation) as well as through the personal experiences gained through life’s events. But we need to be attuned to what God says as Mary was. Suppose we are attuned to only what the mass media, social media or misguiding companions say, and do not bother to listen to what God says in his Word, how can we know what God wants to tell us?

Further, our contemplation on the Word of God should overflow in joyful service like Mary’s going out “with haste” to minister to her needy relative Elizabeth (1:39). Let us begin this year with a resolve to be more sensitive to the needs of the needy and the suffering humanity like Mary, and be more eager to go out to joyfully serve such people. Do our religious practices and devotion to Mother Mary prompt or motivate us to go out of ourselves in serving the needy and the underprivileged, or become only a means to get personal favours for ourselves? Like Mary, blessed are those who really become ‘mothers’ by showing sensitivity to the needs of others and go out in haste to serve them by sacrificing their time and energies. In this year, can we think of a specific act of charity we would like to do to such people?

5.    Response to God's Word

Like Mother Mary, ponder over these questions as you begin a New Year: (1) In my personal conduct what will be my guiding principle in this new year? (2) In my family/ social relationships/ community life what will be my guiding principle? (3) In my workplace what will be my guiding principle? Could I have done better in the past year? How did I spend my time? What good did I do and what did I fail to do? Can I pick up one or two wider issues/ problems/ concerns/ needs of people of my area or of my country and think of what I like to say or do about it in my own little way, at least by a small gesture?? For whom? How? What is my bigger dream for this year? How can I discover God’s plan for my family and its future with Mary’s guidance? Please entrust this New Year, your and your family’s future, the future of the Church, the future of humanity, the future of the entire universe to our Heavenly Mother’s care.

6.    A prayer

Thank you God for giving us Mary as our best guide in some soul-searching questions we need to address as we begin a new year. Grant that like her we may hear your Word in faith, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and produce a hundredfold fruit. Like her, may we become model believers discovering your plans for us by treasuring your Word in our hearts and pondering over its meaning and relevance for our lives. Give us the grace to “do” or live God’s Word by our witness. By our ardent prayer and joyful service, may we become mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters of Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us that we may be faithful to our personal vision and mission in this year. Amen.

 

 

CHRISTMAS MIDNIGHT MASS (A)

 CHRISTMAS SEASON (A)

Christmas Midnight Mass [Lk 2:1-14]

25.12.2022

The Birth of the Saviour, Messiah and Lord in Utter Deprivation

Readings: (1) Is 9:1-6 (2) Titus 2:11-14

1. Theme in brief

God’s identification with human conditions

2. Focus Statement

At his birth Jesus identifies himself with the rejection, lowliness, deprivation and powerlessness ofhumans; and his birth brings salvation to all people and peace to those on whom God’s favour rests.

3. Explanation of the text

Luke’s ‘infancy narrative’, begins with the mention of the birth of the Heavenly King (“the Messiah and the Lord,” 2:11) in a meek, lowly and powerless circumstance during the reign of the most powerful earthly king, namely Augustus Caesar. What a contrast!  Jesus and his parents (especially Mary in her advanced pregnancy) become victims of an arbitrary order of this earthly emperor that a census of the entire world ruled by him should be taken (2:1). Of course, Luke wants to tell us that Jesus is born for the whole world (as a universal Saviour); not only to give glory to Israel but also to become the light of revelation to the Gentiles (2:32). Further he wants to show that the Jewish expectations of Messiah coming from David’s dynasty are fulfilled as Joseph is a descendant of David (2:4). This explains the hardship and constraints faced by Joseph and Mary to go to Bethlehem (Joseph’s ancestral place) for the registration.

While they are there, Mary gives birth to her firstborn Son in a manger because there is no place for them in the inn (2:7). She wraps him in bands of cloth or swaddling clothes (2:7, 12). These details tell us that the Son of God faces total humility, rejection, poverty and utter deprivation at his birth, or takes upon himself these humans conditions..

The news of the humble birth of Jesus is first given to the lowly shepherds. The shepherds in Palestine were considered to be poor, dirty and ignorant of the Law; hence outcasts. By choosing the shepherds to announce the news of his Son’s birth, God tells us that he has become one with the despised, the poor, the lowly and the little ones. The angel who announces the birth calls it good news of great joy for all the people (2:10) because of the Child’s universal mission to save all. According to the message of an angel of the Lord the reason for their joy is (2:9-10), for them (1) a Saviour, who is (2) the Messiah and (3) the Lord is born (2:11). The first title (Saviour) denotes that he is born for a divine mission (that is, to save all people), the sec  ond one is that he is to be confessed as the promised Messiah, and the third one (Lord) is that he is of divine nature. The sign given to the shepherds to recognize the Saviour is a fragile, helpless and defenceless baby wrapped in all the poverty of swaddling clothes and lying with all humility and lowliness in a manger (2:12).

Soon, along with that angel a multitude of heavenly hosts appears to announce that with the birth of this baby at Bethlehem, God is glorified in the highest heaven and the gift of peace is promised to people on whom his favour rests (2:14). And who become the objects of God’s favour? Not the pundits and religious heads of Jerusalem, but the poor and the despised shepherds. Finally, it is clear that joy, salvation and peace are the greatest gifts offered by God to all people by giving his Son to humankind.

4. Application to life 

From tonight’s gospel, we come to know that God’s promised Messiah comes to us not as a powerful king but as a powerless, poor and weak baby. Yes, not all that glitters is Christmas. God identifies himself with human predicament of insecurity, rejection, deprivation and misery. Joseph and Mary had to face the same predicament of insecurity and rejection due to arbitrary order of a worldly ruler, namely Augustus Caesar. They are only examples of so many people in our own times who have to face the same ordeal due to harsh and unjust decisions of those in power, especially of repressive regimes and of those rulers who ruthlessly introduce new economic policies at the cost of the poor. The poor are powerless to change these decisions. They are powerless to organize public protests because the powerful ones who normally organize such protests are silent in order to safeguard their own interests. Joseph and Mary were rejected by their own people who refused to give them place in the inn. Later, Jesus himself was rejected by his own people in his native place, Nazareth (Lk 4:24). The fourth gospel (John’s) tells us that he came to his own and his own people did not accept  him (Jn 1:11).

One simple statement in today’s gospel that expresses the extent of God’s humility out of his boundless love for us and challenges our love for others is this: “She (Mary) gave birth to her firstborn son ….and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” (2:7). During a cold night, the hearts of neighbours turned cold and refused to give place or make room for a pregnant woman in an inn at the time of her imminent delivery. Finally, the Son of God finds warmth among the animals. Sometimes human beings can sink to the level of beasts. Whenever we close our eyes to dire needs of others or whenever we refuse to extend a helping hand to those in dire need, we too sink to the same level. By rejecting such people we reject Christ who wants to be born today.

Even today the poor find no place for them in the fast changing economies of developing countries whose political leaders are more geared to back up the corporate and business world with the aim of getting political and financial support from them. Many of the underprivileged and disadvantaged people have to struggle for survival. Do we give them a place in any of our schemes and relationships? Do we create a little time or room for them in our own ‘inns’ (places or spaces)? Do we have a number of excuses for our refusal to share our space (if we have) and things with them? What about the well-to-do among us? Many of them too are deprived of love. Mother Teresa used to say, even the rich are poor for love, for being cared for, for being wanted. What can we do to tackle this spiritual deprivation?

In spite of harsh realities of life faced by Jesus, it is a joy to discover that he is born as one of us, resembles us and takes upon himself our fate! God loves the despised and deprived people so much that he becomes one with their destiny. He has come to satisfy our hearts that are poor and hungry for love. Have you heard anybody telling you: “Get out from here. I do not want you.” Have you ever used these or similar words to anybody? Nowadays, we can notice a sense of hunger for love and affection among children due to the inability of parents to spend some quality time with them, especially those parents who are too busy in jobs, politics and business. As the evangelist John says, today also Jesus comes to his own (disciples) in the guise of the needy, but his own receive him not (Jn 1:10-11). As prophet Isaiah says, a great light has shone on those who walk in this kind of darkness and gloom of selfishness or lack of concern (Is 9:1). Will Jesus find place in our ‘inns’ (that is, selfish, over-busy and loveless hearts), or face outright rejection by us, just as he faced at his birth?

In Jesus, God comes to us with all the vulnerability and helplessness. He comes as a child “wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger” (2:12). Since God has stooped to the lowliest level of a manger, all of us who want to find him tonight and in real life must also stoop low. It is clear that God hates pride and comes to smash it, not with fire and brimstone but with humility and powerlessness. This helpless baby born to deprived parents does not pose any threat to anybody. He only says, “Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you…” (Rev 3:20). To all who receive him he promises to give the power to become the children of God (Jn 1:12), and those who reject him lose this wonderful privilege! What about us? Tonight, he comes and knocks at the doors of our sinful hearts. Will we open the door or keep it shut? Why there is no room for him in our hearts? As we are preoccupied with all social celebrations and normal busy-ness, there is no time for him and no room for him. As Christmas becomes commercialized, there could be temptations to join those who want to celebrate a ‘Christless’ Christmas and make it purely a social celebration. If ever we could give more room there could be a little victory over selfish attitudes. 

In Luke’s account there is nothing spectacular surrounding the birth of the King of kings. Though we glamorize the scene of Christ’s birth by surrounding with angels, Luke’s gospel mentions about no angels around his birth. The angelic hosts are rather found in the fields around the shepherds.  In fact, Joseph and Mary come to know about the appearance of angels only from the shepherds. Like them we also sometimes come to know about Christ’s birth not in the church but out in the fields – among the poor and the marginalized. Why did God choose the despised shepherds to give the good news of his Son’s birth? He is born among the lowly and the poor, for the lowly and poor, to teach us to be humble and poor in spirit and show compassion for the lowly and the poor. This shows God’s first attention, care and tenderness does not go out to the rich and the powerful, but to those who are on the margins of society – the poor, the deprived, the downtrodden, the least and the last.  He is a God who takes the side of this type of people. Jesus is born in utter poverty and lowliness, and the news of his birth is first given to the deprived ones precisely because we may take a new birth with a new attitude to care for the marginalized and show concern towards their suffering. Ambrose says: "He (Jesus), being rich, became poor for your sakes, that through his poverty you might be rich." Yes, rich in sharing and caring for such people.

Jesus’ poverty and deprivation are a challenge for the greedy who acquire wealth through corrupt means and overexploitation of the natural resources. We notice how severely the Mother Earth and the whole of creation groan or cry in agony due to environmental degradation and break down of ecological balance, just because of human greed. Christmas reminds us that, since God used our world to send his Son, this planet is sanctified by the mystery of incarnation. According to Pope Francis, Mother Earth which is our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life, and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to nurture and sustain us. “This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her” (“Laudato Si” No. 2). Further he says: “The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth.” (“Laudato Si” No.66).  Further, Jesus’ birth in utter deprivation is a challenge to tendencies of consumerism in the modern world. It is a challenge to those who go on craving to acquire latest goods in the markets instead of sharing some of their wealth with the poor. Moreover, the humility and lowliness of the Babe in the manger is a challenge for the proud who bully/ dominate/ exploit the weak, the powerless and the ignorant.

Tonight’s gospel speaks about three wonderful gifts that are given by God to humanity by sending his Son: (1) the gift of joy (2:10); (2) the gift of a Saviour (2:11), and (3) the gift of peace (2:14). If so, we need to ask: “What is the real cause of our joy tonight?” Our joy is not merely due to the glitter of decoration, the glamour of new clothes, the mouth-watering cakes and fascinating gifts, but due to the gift of a Saviour who comes to lift us to the level of divinity by totally sharing in our humanity. We rejoice because he is born for all people – saints and sinners, friends and foes, nationals and foreigners and for all races and cultures. How wonderful to know that he is not bound or constrained by human tendencies of narrow-mindedness, prejudices, exclusiveness and ethnocentrism.

Today, he comes to save (liberate) us from all dehumanizing factors and situations by becoming one of us. Quite often, we are unable to rise up from our fallen state and become better persons, in spite of our best efforts. He wants to hold our hands to raise us. Do we extend our hands towards him? He comes to give peace to those whom God favours. In tune with the multitude of angels who praised God at the good news of the Saviour’s birth (2:13), we too glorify him because we, sinners, have become “those whom he (God) favours,” and those on whom his glory dawns from “the highest heaven,” and to whom peace is given on earth (2:14)! Is this peace given to us for safe-keeping or to share it with those who do not have it? It is good to examine ourselves and see whether we are basically peacemakers or peace-breakers by our way of talking and acting.

Today’s gospel says that Mary wrapped Jesus in “bands of cloth and laid him in a manger” (2:7). But today Jesus does not take birth in a manger. Our broken hearts are mangers where he wants to take birth. He takes birth in order to remove hatred from our hearts and fill us with love, to wash away our sins and make us holy, to drive away darkness and give us his light, to rake away unrest and give us peace, to liberate us from all bondages, and to remove hopelessness and fill us with hope. But how many of us want to open our hearts to him? He comes with light and we may want to remain in darkness; he comes to give us divine life and we want to remain in our sins; he comes to give us peace and we wan to remain in disharmony and division; and he comes to us as a poor and helpless baby so that we do not keep the poor and the powerless out of our designs. It is good to examine ourselves whether we seriously try to heal the wounds of brokenness, hatred, emotional hurts and bitterness.

5. Response to God's Word

What does Jesus lying in the manger tell us? Is it not scandalous for God’s Son to be born as a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger? How does this utter deprivation and lowliness become a challenge for us to renounce our tendency towards domination and exploitation of the weak, possessiveness and consumerism? Do we share our resources with those who cannot repay any of our help in any way? If there is no place for the poor in our schemes, how can Christ be born today? Do we try to share the peace of Christ in a world that is so much broken and divided?

6. A prayer

    Glory to you, O God, in the highest heaven. By becoming one with us through Jesus, you showered your boundless love on lost sinners like us. We praise and bless you with the choirs of heaven for giving us abundant gifts of joy, salvation and peace by giving your Son. Make us generous so that there may be room for the poor and the rejected in our hearts. We pray that your poverty and deprivation at birth may challenge us to renounce our tendency to be greedy and possessive. Let your kind favour rest on us that we share your peace with others by becoming active promoters of peace and harmony in our broken world. O Prince of peace, grant us peace. Amen. 

 

Fourth Sunday of Advent (A)

 Fourth Sunday of Advent (A) [Mt 1:18-24]

18.12.2022

Annunciation to Joseph about Birth of the Saviour and Emmanuel

Readings: (1) Is 7:10-14 (2) Rom 1:1-7

1.  Theme in brief

Accepting our Saviour and Emmanuel in obedient faith

2.  Focus Statement

We need to prepare ourselves to accept Jesus as the One who comes to save us from our sins, and to be with us in all our life’s situations by imitating Joseph’s faith and humble obedience to God’s will.

3.  Explanation of the text

Unlike in Luke’s gospel, in today’s gospel according to Matthew we do not hear about an annunciation of the angel of the Lord to Mary, but to Joseph. Matthew’s gospel lays more emphasis on Joseph’s role in the mystery of incarnation and redemption. The angel of the Lord announced to Joseph God’s will in a dream and that message made him change his mind or plan. He had planned to get married to Mary as per the traditions of his Jewish society. But all his plans or dreams were shattered when he found her to be with child before they lived together (1:18). For the Jews, betrothal was as binding as marriage and its breakage was equal to divorce. As per Mosaic Law pregnancy outside wedlock was punishable by stoning to death (Deut 22:23-24). As a righteous or just man (1:19), Joseph was a devout observer of Mosaic Law. As per that Law, though betrothed to Mary, he could not marry her as she was suspected of adultery. He had all the right to officially divorce her, and as a devout Jew he could or should have done it.

Two things seem to have prevented Joseph from applying the Law to his own case: (1) His compassion for Mary, because of which he was unwilling to expose her to public disgrace or shame; and (2) God’s intervention in his plan (resolution). Through the message of an angel in a dream God asked him to take Mary as his wife (11:20) and not to “dismiss her quietly” (1:19) as he had planned. He is told not to be afraid of either neighbours’ censure or possibility of death penalty but to take Mary as his wife (1:20). Here is a case of divine intervention in the form of a dream to prevent a disaster of publicly disgracing or shaming Mary and allowing her to face the potential death penalty. Perhaps, Joseph not only believed in Mary’s innocence but also desired to save her from the punishment she would have to undergo. Hence, he planned to dismiss her quietly without a lawsuit (1:19). 

In this passage Joseph is presented as a righteous man. His righteousness consists precisely in obeying God’s command instead of strictly following the Jewish law of divorcing Mary. We also notice Joseph’s humble obedience to God’s will by fulfilling two roles given to him: (1) to marry Mary because her conception was due to divine intervention, that is, from the Holy Spirit (1:18, 20); and (2) to assume the responsibility of becoming a legal father by naming the child “Jesus”. By naming Jesus, Joseph would make him his son and bring him into the lineage of David.

Further, in the angelic message we notice three names given to the Messiah to be born: (1) son of David (as Joseph is called in verse 20, so his son also will be); (2) Jesus and (3) Emmanuel. The first title refers to his human origin as a descendant of David as well as his divine origin as the fulfilment of God’s promises or popular expectations that the Messiah would be born in David’s dynasty. Through Joseph’s adoption of Jesus as his son, he (Jesus) becomes a member of David’s family. The second title “Jesus” in Hebrew means “Yahweh (God) saves”. This title refers not only to his divine power to save people from sins, but also to his destined mission to pour out his blood (on the cross) for the forgiveness of sins (Mt 26:28).  The third one denotes his desire to be one with human beings not only at birth but also to remain with them always till the end of the age after his glorification (Mt 28:20). This text says that “they” will name him Emmanuel – probably to mean all the people whom the child will save from their sins (1:21). Thus, Matthew begins his Gospel by saying that in Jesus God came to remain with us, and ends his Gospel with the promise that Jesus will be with us “always, to the end of the age” (28:20).

 4.  Application to life 

God is a God of surprises who shatters our plans just as he did for Joseph. Like in Joseph’s life, he intervenes in ours now and then to reverse our plans. He invites us to change our plans and accept his (in faith) as Joseph did. Joseph’s first plan was to marry Mary as per Jewish tradition. His second plan was not to marry her when he came to know that she was pregnant. Both were shattered. Finally, against all odds, Joseph decided to marry Mary because he clearly saw it as God’s will. As we prepare for Christmas, we are invited to imitate his faith which prompts us to seek God's will in everything. Just like him, if we are persons of faith, sometimes we have to forego our plans or change our decisions in order to accept God’s. 

We can imagine the dilemma of Joseph when he discovered that Mary to whom he was betrothed was already pregnant “before they lived together” (1:18). It was a question to be or not to be… Today’s text says that Joseph was a righteous man and not a self-righteous man. The latter quality would have led him to demand a harsh punishment for Mary as per the law. His decision not to put Mary to public disgrace and dismiss her quietly indicates his Christ-like compassion for wrongdoers and the erring. He could have strictly gone by the rule book. His way of thinking tells us that there are moments in life when we need to go beyond strict justice and apply the law of love. Joseph is a model for us to show some compassion towards the weakness of others and bring them to the right path by our mercy. If this is not possible in institutions and in administration, we are invited to practice this at least occasionally in our personal lives. Without any trace of compassion towards the erring, how can we welcome the Lord who came to desire mercy and not ritual sacrifices (Mt 9:13; 12:7)?

Next, today’s gospel invites us to reflect on what it means to accept Jesus in faith as Joseph did. It involves sacrifice of our own selfish plans and making a new decision to accept Jesus as the only Master of our destiny. Joseph might have faced a lot of social or family pressure to abandon Mary or take legal action against her. Humanly speaking, he might have been tempted to put Mary to public disgrace or humiliation. But as a man of faith, he always sought God’s will in such crucial and critical moments. He believe in the message of the angel when it was not easy to believe because of the social pressures and risk. Similarly, we need to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit to help us in making significant decisions in our relationship with God and neighbours. Sometimes we are so much led by our selfish desires, personal ambitions and public or peer pressure that we fail to act on what we believe to be true and right. How could a just man abandon a young girl to her fate? If we were in Joseph’s place would we have done this?

The very name ‘Jesus’ means the One who saves us from our sins. As Christmas is approaching, we have to realize that we are preparing ourselves to welcome the One who comes to save us from all types of fetters and bondages. Quite often we understand the meaning of ‘salvation’ in a narrow sense. Some of us think that Jesus came to save us from our common sins such as lying, cheating, quarrelling and disobeying, or sins of the world such as murder, adultery and criminal acts. When we read the gospels critically, we come to know that salvation has a much broader connotation.

Salvation (also called liberation or freedom) is one of the main characteristics of God’s Kingdom, for the sake of which Jesus was born, preached his gospel, died and established the Church. He healed the sick to save or liberate them from suffering; he cast out demons to liberate them from the slavery of satanic (evil) forces; he forgave sinners to save them from the bondage of sins; he fed the hungry to liberate them from material and spiritual hunger; he cleansed the Temple to set people free from injustice and exploitation; etc. Yes, we are saved by Jesus, but not yet fully. As we are preparing for welcoming the Saviour, Advent season is the most opportune time to admit that we ourselves and the whole world are in need of liberation. If we have allowed forces of evil power and death to rule over our hearts, when the Liberator comes how can he find a place into them?  

In and through Jesus God becomes Emmanuel, that is, a God who is with us always in all our life-situations. In Jesus, God comes to walk neither ahead of us nor behind us, but along with us. He identifies himself with our human condition. Through Jesus, God chooses to be with us, on our side. What a wonderful thing to know that in Jesus God has become so human with a humane face. He is one of us in our joys, sorrows, struggles, frustrations, tensions, crises and death. He comes to make common cause with us as shares our lot.  He comes to share our sorrows, to rejoice in our joys and to carry the burdens of our sins. If so, is there any human situation he fails to understand? God in Jesus shares our humanity to the extent of being tested (tempted) as we are in every respect except sin (Heb 4:15), so that we may through Jesus share his divinity. He not only came to be with us in history, but continues to be with us in the Eucharist and promises to remain with us always till the end of the age. Assured of this promise, we are called to constantly approach Jesus’ “throne of grace with boldness” to find help in all our trials and weaknesses (Heb 4:16). As Christmas is approaching we raise our hearts in praise and thanks to God for sending us a Person who is able to “sympathize with our weaknesses” and who became like us in “every respect” (Heb 4:15).

When people of other faiths ask us, why we are Christians and what is the difference between our religion and theirs, we should never compare our beliefs with theirs and show their faith to be inferior to ours. That will sound not only unconvincing to firm believers in their own faiths but offensive to them. When I am asked, I say something like this: “The living example of Jesus, my Guru, attracts me, since he became one with me in every way, including my suffering and frustrations. Now I can also say with him when I feel forsaken by everybody, including God, during my suffering, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt 27:46). That is why in personal freedom I choose to accept him as my Saviour and Master and like to follow his path”. Therefore, as Christmas is approaching we rejoice in the Lord because he once again comes to take birth in our hearts to remain with us in all our trials including our feelings of being abandoned by God in times of trials and suffering.

As God chose to be Emmanuel and dwell among us (Jn 1:14) each one of us should choose to be an Emmanuel for the world around us. We are called to be signs of God’s presence in the world so that those who come into contact with us can find him through our love and deeds of compassion. One of the ways of preparing ourselves to welcome Jesus the Emmanuel is to renew our commitment to be an Emmanuel for other people. If so many people of other faiths found an Emmanuel in Mother Teresa because of her works of mercy, why can’t we be a little Mother Teresa in a little way for a little while for at least one little person? This could be one of the ways of celebrating Christmas.

5.    Response to God's Word

Do we seek God's will in everything? Do we open our hearts to receive Jesus in full faith? Just like Joseph, do we sometimes forego our plans or change our decisions in order to accept God’s? When we come under the sway of social or family pressure, do we fail to do or act what we believe to be true and right? In what areas and matters we need liberation or salvation….? What are we doing to allow Jesus (our Saviour) to liberate us from the forces of evil power and death, such as injustice, divisions, unrest, envy, anger, revenge and violence so that He can rule over our hearts? As many of us are preparing a ‘crib’ at Christmas, we need to ask ourselves, what are we doing to make our own hearts worthy cribs so that our Liberator-God may find a fitting place there?

6.  A prayer

Thank you, Lord Jesus for emptying yourself of your heavenly glory and taking upon yourself such a lowly position to be our Emmanuel, God-with-us. As we prepare for Christmas, give us the grace to imitate Joseph’s faith so that we may seek God's will in everything. Just like him, grant that we may have the courage to forego our plans or change our decisions to act upon what we believe to be true and right. Come, O Saviour; we and the whole world are in need of your liberation. Free us from the fetters of evil and death so that our hearts may be pure and worthy dwelling places for you. O Emmanuel, come to stay with us in all out life-situations now and till the end of age, as you have promised. Amen.