Gospel: December 18, 2024
December 18, 2024 (Wednesday)
3rd Week of Advent
Psalter: Week 3 / (Violet)
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 72: 1-2, 12-13, 18-19
Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace forever.
1st Reading: Jeremiah 23: 5-8
Gospel: Matthew 1: 18-25
This is how Jesus Christ was born. Mary his mother had been given to Joseph in marriage but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.
Then Joseph, her husband, made plans to divorce her in all secrecy. He was an upright man, and in no way did he want to discredit her.
While he was pondering over this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She has conceived by the Holy Spirit, and now she will bear a son. You shall call him ‘Jesus’ for he will save his people from their sins.”
All this happened in order to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and he will be called Emmanuel which means: God-with-us. When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do and he took his wife to his home. He did not have any marital relations with her. When she gave birth to a son, Joseph gave him the name of Jesus.
Reflection:
“God-with-us”
Struggles in life are real but God’s unwavering support to help us out in our struggles is also real. Now, we may reflect on the point that the Gospel of Matthew is structured as though like bookends or frame. This Matthean literary devise shows an envelope structure which contains the message about the basic truth that God is always with us.
In Matthew 1:23, we are told about how the child to be born is to be named. He is to be named, “Emmanuel.” This presents itself as a quote from Isaiah 7:14 “Immanuel.” The Hebrew ‘immānu’ēl profoundly captures the beautiful imagery of God who is always in solidarity with us.
Matthew himself provides the meaning of the given name, “God-with-us.” In Matthew 28:20, in the Matthean Gospel’s very last verse, our Lord Jesus pronounces, “I am with you always…” (cf. egō eimi, “I am”).
Therefore, the Gospel of Matthew accentuates the basic truth that God, no matter what, is with us and is forever in solidarity with us. How do we now express our solidarity with him in making this world a better place to live in?
