God’s greatest expression of love
December 21, 2025 – Fourth Sunday of Advent
Readings: Isaiah 7:10-14; Psalm 24, R. Let the Lord enter; he is king of glory.; Romans 1:1-7; Gospel – Matthew 1: 18-24
We recall in today’s Gospel the devotion which Pope Francis inspired when he visited us in 2015, sharing then how he would often pray to the Sleeping Joseph. To this day, I have that image in my altar where I pray. Through the years, the devotion was distilled to a prayer of hope that we may never cease to dream.
In today’s Gospel, we saw how God speaks to us through dreams. We need to reflect on this and understand its importance. Consequently, we ask how our dreams lead us to action, to a life lived with a sense of purpose and ultimately mission. The final point for reflection is the injustice inflicted when people are deprived of the ability or the chance to dream.
Speaking through dreams
What is interesting in the infancy narratives in the Gospel of Matthew is how the Lord always spoke to Joseph through dreams. Today, we read the first dream. Then, after this, he was told in a dream to bring Jesus to Egypt since Herod wanted to harm him.
And while in Egypt, another message was sent through a dream that it was safe to return. Finally, Joseph had another dream and was told to take a detour to Nazareth.
Dreams like Joseph’s are present in our lives. These are dreams that God planted in our hearts that reveal to us our calling or God’s mission for us. It may begin with simple desires or interests until the dreams beckon us to journey to pursue the dream that gives the most meaning to our lives.
Leaving the familiar and journeying into the unknown
As Joseph Campbell pointed out in “Hero with a Thousand Faces,” it invites us to leave the familiar and journey into the unknown in pursuit of a dream. Fr. Catalino G. Arevalo, S.J., calls this the dream larger than life. Such dreams lead us to action, to live a life in pursuit of meaning. This is the obedience of Joseph.
When everything is said and done, obedience to mission is the greatest and deepest meaning in life. This is a life well lived, achieving one’s full human potential.
This brings us to the third point for reflection. To deprive people of the ability to dream is one of the greatest forms of injustice. This is the curse of poverty and the failure of society to deliver quality basic services.
The late Cesar A. Buenaventura, who passed away the other week, and whose life is a shining example of one who had dreams and the opportunities to pursue them, pointed out that the challenge we face is to overcome the problem of stunting among our youth and the poor quality of our education.
The former leaves a stunted child almost listless and unable to dream. The latter robs the youth of the opportunities to pursue dreams.
God’s greatest expression of love
As we come closer to celebrating the birth of our Lord, we pray we may experience a sense of renewal as the child to be born, our Emmanuel, is the beginning of God’s final and greatest expression of love.
This child in the manger is God’s love that brings us joy and hope. There is no dream far greater than this.
Matthew 1:18-24
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
When his mother Mary, was betrothed to Joseph,
But before they lived together,
She was found with child through the Holy Spirit.
Joseph, her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.
Such was his intention when, behold,
The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
“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.
She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus.
because he will save his people from their sins.”
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,
which means “God is with us.”
When Joseph awoke,
He did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him
and took his wife into his home.
