December 19, 2016
Editor’s Note: This homily for the Fourth Sunday of Advent 2016 is based on the Gospel of Matthew 1: 18-24.
“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.”
Sometimes we have to be unconscious to hear what God is saying.
Conventional wisdom, our wisdom, my wisdom is so compelling that there is no room for God to speak a word that contradicts how I have decided things must be.
So the angel whispered to Joseph in a dream — whispered words of mercy, whispered that as unbelievable and explainable as it is, he should not be afraid to take Mary as his wife. He should not be afraid to believe that God’s Holy Spirit is at work in his confusing beloved.
Thus the model for Christmas is born: for Christmas happens only when we are willing to set aside our own preconceptions and believe that the Holy Spirit is at work in those around us — even in people we think have betrayed us.
Christmas happens only when we are not afraid to be merciful.
Christmas happens only when we are not afraid to love the people we love, even when we do not understand them.
Joseph discovered love is costly dream. Caring for Mary and her baby Jesus would leave Joseph homeless, make him a refugee and an exile, twice over.
He would have to figure out how to save this baby boy, who was not his own, from being killed by powerful men, sneaking him into one country and then sneaking him home again. It cost Joseph everything he had to keep Jesus and Mary safe.
In this last week before Christmas, do not be afraid to let the angel of the Lord visit your dreams, whispering words of mercy into your ear; encouraging you to believe that the Holy Spirit is at work in the people you love, even if they have hurt you.
Don’t be afraid of taking into your heart and your home those who you love.
Don’t be afraid of going out of your way, disrupting your life, costing more than you could imagine to protect those God has put in your path and into your keeping.
Do not be afraid to let Christmas happen to you.
Amen.
Paulist Fr. Mark-David Janus is president of Paulist Press.