周景勳神父講座

周景勳神父於12月29日(星期三)在中區中心主持講座

上午十點至下午一點國語主題﹕變化氣質陶冶聖靈

Part 1

Part 2

下午二點至五點粵語主題﹕重拾心中愛-以基督的心分享生命

Part 1

Part 2

4th SUNDAY ADVENT (A) 19 Dec 2010

將臨期第四主日

依撒意亞先知書 7:10-14 聖保祿宗徒致羅馬人書 1:1-7 聖瑪竇福音 1:18-24

Now that we have reached the fourth Sunday of Advent it is good to recognise what this season has been demanding of us. The focus of Advent has been on the coming of Christ. We can speak of this in three senses. The first is the second coming of Christ; and this has been the focus of the last three weeks. A second sense is the remembrance of the first coming of Christ, the birth of Jesus at Bethlehem over two thousand years ago. This is the focus of today’s readings, and it prepares us to celebrate Christmas next week. The third sense is his coming to us in our lives on a daily basis. This, of course, is related to the other two comings. Our consideration of them helps us ultimately to be ready to welcome him as he visits us personally.
Let’s reflect for a few moments on the readings we have listened to today. The focus is on the announcement of the birth of Jesus. In St Matthew’s gospel the announcement is made to Joseph, rather than Mary. The angel comes to him in a dream and tells him that a child will be born. Two things are striking about this announcement. The first is that the child to be born of Mary is conceived of the Holy Spirit, as we also say in the Creed. The second is that he is given a name, Emmanuel, which means that God-is-with-us. The point of these two facts is that they speak of the solidarity that God has with the whole of creation. The child, Jesus, will be one of us, like us, but he will also be God with us. The announcement of his birth, then, tells us something important about God, namely that God loves us, draws us into the divine life, desires good for us, and offers us salvation – a fulfilled life.

As we listen to this announcement our attention turns to Joseph and how he responds to what is announced to him. We know that he responds at first with hesitation, but then as he learns more about the promise of God in the forthcoming birth of Jesus he trusts the message he has heard and embraces the plan of God. He becomes a willing participant in this plan. Of course, he doesn’t really know what it all means, or what will happen to Jesus, but he lives with both faith and hope. He responds with faith because he both trusts God and is prompted by the Holy Spirit. He is sustained by hope – a hope that comes from the witness of his ancestors to God’s constant action for good in their lives.

Of course, it is not always easy to respond as Joseph did. While there is a long history of the people’s fidelity to God, there are also many times when they rebelled against God. We see a telling example of this in the first reading. It is amazing just how similar the message of both readings is. In both cases there is a young woman who is pregnant and will soon give birth to a child, who will save his people. The person who hears the message is Ahaz. His response is in stark contrast to Joseph’s in the gospel. Ahaz has had a run of bad luck. He was desperate for some good news and some good fortune. So the prophet tells him to ask God for a sign. Buy Ahaz can’t bring himself to ask God. He thinks he is being virtuous, and not putting God to the test. But the prophet makes the point that whether you ask or not, God will give you a sign. So Ahaz responds very differently to Joseph to this sign. While Joseph embraces it and participates in God’s plan, Ahaz stands back in fear.

This raises questions for us about how we respond to God’s announcement. I think the gospel asks us not just about how we will respond to the specific announcement of Jesus’ birth at Bethlehem. It asks us not just to respond to Christmas and Jesus’ coming in flesh and blood like ours. In getting us to think about the announcement of Jesus’ birth, it is asking us to reflect on how we respond to his coming in our own lives from day to day. The message of the readings is surely that we should take Joseph rather than Ahaz as our model. Joseph listened to God’s message, trusted God, and cooperated with God’s plan.

For us this means first of all that we should remain alert to the signs that God is coming and that God is with us. Often these are very simple, humble signs. We are not likely to receive a visit from an angel as Joseph did, but there will be moments of grace in our lives, moments when we encounter goodness and love. These are signs that can turn our mind to the one who is all-good and all-loving.

Having recognised the signs the next thing is to respond. This calls us to loved God in response to the love that we have received. It will also call us to love those around us. Of course, this does not have to be a grand gesture, but rather something that becomes a normal part of our daily life. We can be engaged with God’s plan in our joys and sorrows, or in our hopes and disappointments. Ahaz was looking for the extraordinary. The message of the angel to Joseph is that God will visit us in this child who is one of us; but he is also Emmanuel, God-with-us.

Fr. Gerard Kelly