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Fourth Sunday of Advent

Readings of the Day
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In today's Gospel from Saint Matthew,
we hear the familiar story of Jesus' birth from the perspective
of Saint
Joseph, who upon finding out that his betrothed wife is pregnant with
a child
not his own, out of righteousness and mercy seeks to divorce Mary
quietly so as
not to expose her to public shame or even stoning. It is only after an
angel
appears to him that Joseph - like Mary - says
"Yes" to God and risks shame and
scandal to take Mary as his wife and raise her son as his own.

At the conclusion of this familiar
narrative, Saint Matthew makes a critically important theological
statement: all
of these events took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken through
the
prophets that "a virgin would conceive and bear a son, and they
would name him
Emmanuel, which means 'God is with Us.'"

Hearing these words from Saint Matthew
reminds me of another critical passage in his gospel - the 25th
chapter
- where Jesus tells his disciples that when they "feed the
hungry, give drink
to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, care for the
sick, and
visit the imprisoned" that "God is with them" when
they do this "for one of the
least of these brothers and sisters."

Since the very beginning, it has
been the work of the Church and its charitable agencies to be Emmanuel
- God's
saving presence - to the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the
naked, the sick
and the imprisoned. On this Fourth Sunday of Advent, let us pray that
we might like
Saint Joseph say "Yes" and act with righteousness and
mercy, and dedicate
ourselves to be Emmanuel to all those in need.   

 

Tom Dobbins Jr. is
the Justice and Peace Coordinator of Catholic Charities of the
Archdiocese of New York, a Producer for the "JustLove"
radio
broadcast on Sirius/XM's Catholic Channel, and the Chair
Emeritus of
the Roundtable Association of Catholic Diocesan Social Action
Directors. 

 

 

 




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