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| “The Nativity” by Jacob de Backer, 1580’s |
Reading 1: Jeremiah 23:5-8
Behold, the days are coming,
says the LORD,
when I will raise up a
righteous shoot to David;
As king he shall reign and
govern wisely,
he shall do what is just and
right in the land.
In his days Judah
This is the name they give
him:
“The LORD our justice.”
Therefore, the days will
come, says the LORD,
when they shall no longer
say, “As the LORD lives,
who brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt
but rather, "As the LORD
lives,
who brought the descendants
of the house of Israel
up from the land of the
north”–
and from all the lands to
which I banished them;
they shall again live on
their own land.
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Commentary on Jer 23:5-8
This passage is part of the “Booklet on Kings.” In
it, the prophet exhorts the Hebrew leaders to rule with justice, with special
attention to the poor. The last two verses of this passage were probably
written during the exile, looking forward to the return to the land. We see in
this passage the Prophet Jeremiah predicting the coming of the Messiah who will
rule with justice for all time.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 72:1-2, 12-13, 18-19
R. (see 7) Justice shall flourish in his time, and
fullness of peace for ever.
O God, with your judgment
endow the king,
and with your justice, the
king’s son;
He shall govern your people
with justice
and your afflicted ones with
judgment.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of
peace for ever.
For he shall rescue the poor
when he cries out,
and the afflicted when he has
no one to help him.
He shall have pity for the
lowly and the poor;
the lives of the poor he
shall save.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of
peace for ever.
Blessed be the LORD, the God
of Israel,
who alone does wondrous
deeds.
And blessed forever be his
glorious name;
may the whole earth be filled
with his glory.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of
peace for ever.
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Commentary on Ps 72:1-2, 12-13, 18-19
Psalm 72 is one of the Royal Psalms sung by the
king. It is a prayer that the civil leader may rule with the justice of God. In
doing so compassion will be shown to the poor and the wealth of the kingdom
will be shared with the poor. In the Advent season, we see this song sung by
the Messiah who comes with justice for the poor. The final strophe is concluded
with praise for a God who, while unseen, makes his presence known through his
creation.
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Gospel: Matthew 1:18-25
Now 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
be with child 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.
He had no relations with her
until she bore a son,
and he named him Jesus.
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Commentary on Mt 1:18-25
This passage is the beginning of
St. Matthew’s story of the nativity of Jesus. Joseph is being told by the angel
that he should bring Mary into his home as wife and the paternity of the child
is the Holy Spirit.
"The angel's message is
urgent: Joseph must maintain his marriage in order to be the foster-father of
Jesus. As a descendant of King David, he imparts to Jesus Davidic (royal)
rights of inheritance. Matthew's portrait of Joseph recalls the Old Testament
patriarch Joseph. (1) Both share the same name (Matthew 1:18; Genesis 30:24); (2) both
have fathers named Jacob (Matthew 1:16; Genesis 30:19-24); (3) God
spoke to both of them through dreams (Matthew 1:20-21; Matthew 2:13, 19-20, 22; Genesis 37:5-11); (4) both
were righteous and chaste (Matthew 1:19; Genesis 39:7-18); (5) both
saved their families by bringing them to Egypt (Matthew 2:13; Genesis 45 16-20)." [4]
He is also told the name the child
is Emmanuel ("God with us").
The story ends with Joseph accepting the role and the command of the angel.
“The natural genealogical line is broken but the promises to David are
fulfilled; through Joseph's adoption the child belongs to the family of David.
Matthew sees the virginal conception as the fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14.”[5]
CCC: Mt
1:16 437; Mt 1:18-25 497; Mt 1:20 333, 437, 486, 497; Mt 1:21 430, 437, 452, 1507, 1846, 2666,
2812; Mt 1:23 497, 744
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Reflection:
The Church teaches that God
reveals himself to mankind gradually –
The divine plan of Revelation is realized
simultaneously "by deeds and words which are intrinsically bound up with
each other" and shed light on each another [sic]. It involves a specific
divine pedagogy [teaching]: God communicates himself to man gradually. He
prepares him to welcome by stages the supernatural Revelation that is to
culminate in the person and mission of the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ.[6]
This statement from the
Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) is demonstrated in sacred scripture as
we see two stages of revelation recalled in the reading from Jeremiah. Then, in
St. Matthew’s Gospel, the final stage of God’s revelation is shown to St.
Joseph in a dream as the Father’s plan unfolds before us.
His divine plan, the whole
idea of God setting in motion the events leading to complete revelation,
surpasses human understanding. We see
indistinctly the touch points God has had with humankind since the beginning as
recorded in the Bible. Those direct interactions are indistinct because the
events were recorded and passed down through human authors and chroniclers who
were limited by language and understanding, being the tools they were meant to
be. But what they do show us is a
dawning understanding of the Lord’s intent toward us.
While God’s revelation was
completed in Christ, and no new divine revelation followed his Only Begotten
Son, our understanding of these events is incomplete. Starting with those people closest to Jesus,
the body of human understanding has grown over the years.
In the Gospel today we see a
reference to an ancient prediction: “Behold, the virgin shall
be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel.” Isaiah announced this event even before the
great Babylonian Exile, half a millennia before Joseph’s dream. Would Joseph have made the connection to
Isaiah’s oracle about the Messiah had that dream not painted the picture? Would Joseph have awakened from that dream
and wondered: “Where have I heard those words before?”
It
is good that God does not overestimate our ability to take in all that he has
planned for us. We come to faith so
slowly sometimes, and the sheer magnitude of his love for us continues to be
revealed to us as we grasp through faith the reality of Christ. Each time the story plays through, we get a
clearer picture, come to a personal revelation that is more complete. Awe at God’s plan once more fills us and our
anticipation of the great feast grows.
Pax
[1]
The picture is “The Nativity” by Jacob de Backer, 1580’s
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the
Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This
re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4]
Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, © 2010, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA. pp.8
[5]
See NAB footnote on Matthew 1: 18-25
[6]
CCC 53
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