4TH SUNDAY OF ADVENT, YEAR A: REFLECTION BY FR. JULIAN EKEH
(Matthew 1:18-24)
The celebration of the Nativity of the Lord
draws nearer and nearer. Today is the last Sunday before the great solemnity.
We are called to reflect on the way the holy birth came about. Our special
interest will centre on two personalities: Mary and Joseph the dreamer of the New
Testament.
Our dreams of Christmas can never be
thought of without these two persons. We think of Mary as the maiden through
whom the Saviour will come to the world. We talk of Joseph on the other hand as
the guardian and protector of Mary and Jesus.
As we prepare for our Christmas, as we
paint the image of what we want our Christmas this year to look like can we
through the aid of the Gospel today keep before us the dream of the first
Christmas dreamer, what triggered it and the angelic instruction that the dream
generated?
MARY FOUND TO BE WITH CHILD
The Gospel of today without telling how
Mary got pregnant simply said that she was found to be with child outside the
knowledge of the Man she was betrothed to. It throws every reader in suspense.
As for Joseph who was the Man that initially experienced all these, he was
plunged into a deep thought. He must have wondered who was responsible, he must
have felt disappointed with Mary, he must have blamed himself for trusting so
much.
In our day-to-day life we are faced with
such moments of misunderstanding. When we do not understand anything around us,
when we do not seem to comprehend why things happen the way they do to us and
the people we care about.
At such moments, what do we do? Flame up or
keep calm?
MARY WAS CALM
Let us place the silence of Mary before us
for a while. Let's visualize the young innocent girl who asked some questions
in the account of Luke now keeping quiet before Joseph. She never spoke. Maybe
she simply said what she experienced and just shut her mouth up. Why did she do
this? She did not want quarrels. She must have put herself in the shoes of
Joseph to understand that he was feeling what every other man in such a
situation would feel. She kept silent to avoid raising of voices, attracting a
third party, spreading their linen outside and disrespecting her husband. What
a rare decision! This is not what many women are known with.
Can we dream of a Christmas free from
family quarrels, filled with conflict resolutions, decorated with overlooking
ills done in the past? Can we start
seeking the face of God before taking any serious decision?
JOSEPH'S DECISIONS
"Being a just man" is the phrase
used to describe the person of Joseph generally and with particular respect to
his attitude to Mary. Joseph was yet to receive the message of the angel when
on his own he took a noble decision. What was the decision of Joseph? He
decided never to follow the bad injunction that encourages putting a victim of
such to shame publicly. Let our dream for this Christmas include removing shame
from people's faces instead of dragging them to shame. You can forgive that person
without embarrassing him or her. You can hold that person's secrete and help
him or her out of ugly situations instead of destroying the person's good name.
Who knows, this may attract angelic visitation to you.
BEHOLD AN ANGEL APPEARED TO JOSEPH IN
THE DREAM
With the whole trouble in his heart Joseph
was uncomfortable. He must have found it difficult to sleep that night. Imagine
him walking up and down without any other solution rather than simply divorcing
Mary privately. He goes on to ask himself if there's no better solution to the
problem. And suddenly sleep struck and subsequently dream. The dream here
became a medium of communication, encounter, meditation and listening to the
voice of God. I want to imagine that Joseph must have prayed fervently before his
sleep not to make any mistake. And the angel appeared with an interesting
message: "Joseph son of David, do
not fear to take Mary as your wife..." That became a response to the
prayer of seeking God's face. May God send you angels both human and spiritual
to deliver you when you are tempted to make bad decisions. Endeavour to follow
directives from above when they come.
FOLLOW THE MESSAGES OF YOUR DREAM
The success people record in life depend to
a large extent on the instructions they were able to obey or not. Wake from
your sleep and go about what God has planned for you. Dream to make this year's
Christmas a Christmas to be remembered by preparing to follow the commands of
God. Let the law of love and of God guide each and everyone of us as we
endeavour to use this last week of advent to fine-tune our Christmas
preparations.
May God bless His word in our hearts
LET US PRAY
Thank You Lord God for leading us thus far
in our preparation for Your Son's birth. We commit ourselves, our confusions,
our discomforts and our plans into Your holy hands.
May our good dreams of Christmas come to
pass and may we be spared from every misfortune this period and always through
Christ our Lord. Amen.
Happy Sunday (Advent Week 4)
Rev Fr Julian O Ekeh
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