Matthew 1:18-24

Isaiah 7:10-14

Psalm 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6

Romans 1:1-7

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.

Opening Prayer: Lord God, I beseech you to pour your grace into my heart that I, to whom the Incarnation of Christ your Son was made known by the message of an Angel, may, by his Passion and Cross, be brought to the glory of the Resurrection.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Joseph, Son of David: In the Gospel, we read the beginning of the story of Saint Joseph, the royal descendant of David, the husband of Mary, and the protector of the Holy Family. In many ways, the story of the New Testament Joseph echoes the story of the Old Testament Joseph. Both are sons of Jacob, both had prophetic and important dreams, and both ended up in Egypt. But, above all, both Josephs saved their families. The first Joseph saved the family of Israel from a great famine. The new Joseph will provide for Mary and Jesus and save them from the wrath of King Herod. In today’s Gospel, the angel of the Lord calls Joseph, not “son of Jacob,” but “son of David.” This title recalls another story of salvation. As a young man, David saved Israel from the Philistines by slaying Goliath. And as an old man, King David repented of his sin – he had pridefully taken an unauthorized census of his fighting men – and saved his people from the punishment of pestilence by obeying a prophet’s command to build an altar and offer sacrifices at the threshing floor of a man named Araunah. The plague of three days of pestilence was stopped after David’s sacrifice, and the threshing floor later became the site for the Temple in Jerusalem. The episode looks forward in some ways to Jesus’ sacrifice. Jesus didn’t sin like David by taking a military census of his people, but he did save us from the pestilence of sin through his sacrifice on the Cross. The Goliath that Jesus, the Son of David, defeats is not a human of great stature, but the devil himself. How am I working, like Joseph, to protect and save my family?

2. Hezekiah, Son of David: When Matthew reflects on the annunciation of Jesus’ birth to Joseph, he shows how Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of an ancient prophecy of Isaiah to King Ahaz. King Ahaz was one of the wicked kings of Judah, who reigned from 732-715 B.C. During his reign, he was being pressured to join an alliance with Syria and Israel against Assyria. Ahaz, however, refused to join them, and Syria and Israel attacked Judah. When Ahaz was debating what he should do, the prophet Isaiah counseled the king to remain calm and trust in the Lord rather than seek an alliance with Assyria. Isaiah even gave the king a prophetic sign: “The young woman will conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel” (Isaiah 7:11-14). But Ahaz refused to listen to Isaiah and trust in the Lord and went ahead with his plan and began to pay tribute to the Assyrian king, who decimated Syria and Israel. Isaiah’s prophecy about a royal son of salvation was initially but not ultimately fulfilled in Ahaz’s son, Hezekiah. Unlike his father, Hezekiah became a good king and, through his fidelity to the Lord, saved the people of Judah from the threat of the Assyrians (2 Kings 19; 2 Chronicles 32). Like David, Hezekiah was a good king and put the worship of the Lord at the center of his Kingdom. But Hezekiah was also, like David, a flawed king. While David struggled with lust, Hezekiah struggled with pride. This is seen when Hezekiah flaunted his kingdom’s wealth to some Babylonian ambassadors (2 Kings 20:12-19). Isaiah warned that this prideful act would one day lead to the Babylonians plundering his treasures and leading his descendants into exile. 

3. Son of David and Son of God: Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy about a royal son who will save God’s people. Jesus, the royal son of David, is truly “God with us” and saves us, not from famine, or pestilence, or an enemy army, but from sin, from spiritual famine, from spiritual pestilence, and the attacks of the devil. In the Second Reading, Paul recalls the royal and divine lineage of Jesus. Paul begins his Letter to the Romans by highlighting how he has been called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ and how he has been set apart for the Gospel about God’s Son, “descended from David according to the flesh, but established as Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness through resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:2-4). Paul works as an apostle and ambassador of Jesus to bring about “the obedience of faith” among all the Gentiles (Romans 1:5-6). He preaches the Gospel that he has received: “Among other things, the gospel means the return of God’s presence to his people. In Isaiah, the word gospel signifies God’s return and his definitive enthronement not just over Israel, but over the whole world – resulting in the conversion of the nations (see Isaiah 40:9; 52:7-8; 60:6, 61:1). God has returned to his people in and through Jesus Christ, the Divine Son of God. Christ is enthroned as the King of Heaven and Earth through his passion, resurrection, and ascension, paving the way for the Gentiles to enter God’s covenant family” (Swafford and Cavins, Romans: The Gospel of Salvation, 10).

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, Son of David and Son of God, I thank you for bringing me into your covenant family. Your heavenly Father is my heavenly Father. You are my brother. Your Spirit has been poured into my heart and has made me a new creation. I am surrounded by my brothers and sisters in the Church. What an awesome mystery!

Living the Word of God: How am I called to protect my family and help them grow in holiness within God’s covenant family? How have I prepared my family for the celebration of Christmas this Advent? What is my dominant fault? Lust? Pride? Avarice? Vanity? How can I make steps this week, with God’s grace, to combat this fault?