Homily for 4th Sunday of Advent

Homily for the
4th Sunday of Advent
Dec. 19, 2010
Matt 1: 18-24
Rom 1: 1-7
Boy Scouts, parents at Camp Seton, Greenwich, Conn.

“Joseph, Son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary our wife into your home” (Matt 1: 20).

When Joseph is shocked to discover that the woman he’s legally married to—altho, according to the practice of the time, they’re still not living not living together as man and wife—God intervenes by sending him an angel with a reassuring message: “It is thru the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her” (1:20).

Jesus is conceived by the power of God and not by any human power except Mary’s consent, which St. Luke speaks of in his gospel (1:26-38). By the power of God, this child will indeed be “Jesus,” which means “Yahweh saves.” (Yahweh is God’s own name, which he revealed to Moses when he appeared in the burning bush [Ex 3:1-3,13-14].) By the power of God, his disciples will discover that he has truly been “Emmanuel,” which means “God is with us” (Matt 1:23).

God could do that in order to save human beings from their sins. But he needed some human cooperation. Obviously, he needed Mary’s help for Jesus to be conceived in her womb and for her to bring him to birth.

He also needed Joseph’s cooperation. According to the prophecies of the Old Testament, the Messiah had to come from the house of David, had to belong to the dynasty of King David. Have you ever noticed how often in the gospels Jesus is referred to as “the Son of David”? Joseph, who was descended from David, therefore had to acknowledge Jesus as his son. Apparently, Mary’s family origin had no legal bearing in the matter, and she may not have been from David’s family at all. But if Joseph takes Mary into his home and accepts her son as his own son, legally then Jesus becomes Joseph’s son, and David’s son. That’s the plan that God has for Joseph, which is part of God’s plan for our salvation.

In the reading from St. Paul today, he addresses the Christians of Rome as “the beloved of God, called to be holy” (1:7). He’s speaking to ordinary Christians, and he’s saying that God loves them and God calls them to be saints! You know there are only 2 alternatives in life: either you’re a saint and go to heaven with Jesus, or you’re not a saint and you go to the other place.

God calls us to be saints, all of us. Paul mentioned the Holy Spirit who “established [Jesus] as Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness” (1:4), and then he said that we also are “called to belong to Jesus Christ” (1:6), which means that Jesus shares that same Holy Spirit with us. That outpouring the Spirit makes us the brothers and sisters of Jesus; it makes us, too, children of God according to the plan that God has for our redemption.

God needed St. Joseph to help execute the plan of redemption. Joseph had to obey what the angel told him and take Mary, who by any human appearance had been an unfaithful wife. Joseph had to believe otherwise, and obey. How do we know what God’s plan is for us, what God expects of us, that we might become saints?

1st, we find it in the Bible. The Bible is God’s word and reveals to us what Jesus teaches, reveals how we are to live.

2d, in particular, we have the 10 Commandments, which are guides for Christians just like the Scout Law is a guide for being a good Scout.

3d, we listen to what the Church teaches us about what’s right and wrong.
4th, we carry out our own responsibilities as sons, as brothers, as students, as Scouts, and so on: by obeying, by being kind to our siblings, by studying, by being helpful in the troop, etc.

By doing all that, we’ll be imitating St. Joseph, listening to God, taking Jesus into our hearts, acting like God’s beloved children, becoming holy.