Immanuel, God Is With Us
Introduction
When the kings of God’s people had not fulfilled their mission of guiding the people to God, the prophet Jeremiah announces that God would do away with them and become himself the shepherd of his people. But he will make this new beginning through a human, a virtuous shoot of the house of David. Through him, God would become his people’s integrity, the cause of our fidelity.
In the New Testament, as Matthew tells us, Jesus is this Son of David through Joseph and Mary and at the same time God’s own Son. He is indeed “God our integrity,” and Immanuel, “God-with-us,” Jesus, whose name means “Savior.”
1 Reading Jeremiah 23:5-8
Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD,
when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David;
As king he shall reign and govern wisely,
he shall do what is just and right in the land.
In his days Judah shall be saved,
Israel shall dwell in security.
This is the name they give him:
“The LORD our justice.”
Therefore, the days will come, says the LORD,
when they shall no longer say, “As the LORD lives,
who brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt”;
but rather, “As the LORD lives,
who brought the descendants of the house of Israel
up from the land of the north”–
and from all the lands to which I banished them;
they shall again live on their own land.
Responsorial Psalm, PS 72:1-2, 12-13, 18-19
R. (see 7) Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king’s son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out,
and the afflicted when he has no one to help him.
He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor;
the lives of the poor he shall save.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous deeds.
And blessed forever be his glorious name;
may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
O Leader of the House of Israel,
giver of the Law to Moses on Sinai:
come to rescue us with your mighty power!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Matthew 1:18-25
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 be with child 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.
He had no relations with her until she bore a son,
and he named him Jesus.
Commentary
Joseph dreamed, woke up, and did as he was directed in the dream. Did he understand the meaning of whatever it was that was revealed in the dream? Quite unlikely. For who can understand the profound words, “[Your wife] has conceived of the Holy Spirit, and now she will bear a son. You shall call him ‘Jesus’ for he will save his people from their sins”? But it did not matter for Joseph that he didn’t fully grasp the mystery revealed to him. What mattered to him was that the message was God’s. If God wanted it, so be it. If Mary said, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to your word,” in all likelihood, Joseph whispered the same in his heart as well: “Behold the servant of the Lord, be it done unto me as you wish.”
St. Joseph, teach me the art of obeying God’s will even when I cannot make any sense out of it. Teach me to trust God’s plan for me as you and Mary did.
Blessing
Do not be afraid, God is with you. We live in his hands, for he has given us Jesus, our Savior and friend. May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!