Fourth Sunday of Advent | USCCB
Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Advent A
One year ago at this time Louise and
I were eagerly awaiting the birth of our first grandchild. The due date was
December 27th, and we had our calendar clear so that at soon as our daughter
called we would head up to Milwaukee. On the 23rd she called to let
us know she was in labor and said she would call back to let us know when they
were headed to the hospital. When she called back it was to tell us not to come
up yet.
When Marie and her husband, Joe,
arrived at the hospital they were tested for covid and found out they were both
positive. After Wren was born they tested her and she was positive also. We
said we would come up to help when they got home from the hospital, but she
told us to wait until they had completed their quarantine. It was ten days
after the birth of our grand-daughter before we were finally able to go to
visit. Life is full of unexpected interruptions, and like GPS apps we are
constantly recalculating.
What kind of plans did Joseph have
for his life with Mary? Imagine when he finds out Mary is with child. He is
trying to figure out the best way to handle this unexpected turn of events. He
decides to discreetly break the betrothal, this would clear the way for the
true father to take Mary into his home. Then, in a dream he learns that it is
by the Holy Spirit that Mary conceived, and he is to take the child into his
home.
Life for Joseph doesn’t settle down
to a carpenter shop in a little out of the way town where he can live quietly
and unnoticed. He is forced to take his family and flee to escape the murderous
King Herod.
Sometimes I think we imagine that the
Holy Family lived a charmed life. What could go wrong for Jesus, Mary, and
Joseph? But they lived in troubled times, just as we do, and they had to adjust
to the unexpected twists and turns of life, just as we do. But they had the
hope of Immanuel, God with us.
God IS with us. Being mindful that
God is with us is to trust that no matter how desperate the circumstances may
appear in the present, God will bring everything to a final, loving conclusion.
And the things that we fret over because we can’t control them will, in God’s
time, take care of themselves.
We are in the final week of Advent.
There is still time to make this a period of hopeful preparation. There is no
need to worry about things beyond our control. There is no need to worry about
having missed black Friday or cyber Monday nor any of the other meaningless
hypes that overwhelm us in this mad rush to artificial happiness. Don’t worry
if your house is not ready for guests; rather, make your heart ready to receive
Immanuel.
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