A week from today, we celebrate Christmas day, a very different Christmas day compared to what was “normal” for us before the pandemic. For several weeks, we have been journeying during the Advent season in order to prepare for the birth of our Savior. A few years back, I came across a document issued by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops entitled: “Advent: Joy and Hope: We look forward with joy to the coming of Jesus.” Joy and hope are two themes that are important during the season of Advent. Perhaps they are even more important this year. Perhaps these are aspects of Advent that we often neglect and overlook. Advent is often approached as a very solemn season, a serious season, a season where we emphasize repentance, renewal, and reconciliation. But it is a joyful season as well. The circumstances that Joseph faced in today’s Gospel are quite serious. We can only imagine his anxiety, concern, and tension.
Indeed, Advent is a time of preparation for us, of making straight a path in the arrival of the Lord into our world. Matthew tells us in today’s Gospel that this fulfills what the prophet foretold, that the Virgin would give birth to a child who will be called Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.” Advent is a time where we not only prepare for the coming of the Lord, but it is also a time in which we contemplate the way God is with us. It is important for us to keep in mind that Emmanuel means that “God is with us” – not “God will soon be with us” or “God is on the way.” Sometimes, with what is going on in our lives and what we see going on in the world, it is easy to forget that “God is with us.” We are connected with God in the present day reality of our lives, even in the midst of a pandemic, but sometimes that connection can seem far away. God comes to us in a special way in the birth of Christ, but God is always with us. He is present throughout human history in many different ways. As we are only a week away from Christmas, I pray that all of us may be aware of the ways God is with us, the ways God is working in our lives.
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