Homily Advent 4th: When the Lord asks, he asks for everything

Homily for 4^th Sunday of Advent Year A 2016-2017

Isaiah 7:10-14; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-25

Introduction

A few years ago, some friends adopted a baby and thus became parents for the first time.  Of course they were overjoyed at receiving their daughter, especially as they had been waiting for a long time.  But I could also see their anxiety.

·        They had the usual anxiety about sleepless nights, changing diapers and what to do when the baby was ill.

·        But more serious was the anxiety of taking on the commitment to care for another human being for at least the next eighteen years.

And yet they eagerly took up this challenge with joy, trusting in the help of their family as well as the Lord’s help and guidance.

Scripture and Theology

In today’s gospel we have just heard how God called Joseph for the special task of being the foster-father of his Son.  Like my friends, Joseph was probably anxious at hearing this news.

·        Let us leave aside the usual anxieties that come with having a baby.

·        Let us leave aside the fact that an angel is talking to him!

·        Let us leave aside the fact that the baby is not even his!

Joseph was taking on the great responsibility of raising the Saviour of the world.  We have to remember that Jesus was truly God and truly human, learning things just like any other child does.  Joseph took on this responsibility to teach him.

·        It was Joseph’s job to teach him how to walk, talk and eat.

·        It was Joseph’s job to teach him the prayers, commandments and how to read the Bible.

·        It was Joseph’s job to teach him the trade of carpentry.

In short, it was Joseph’s job to teach how to be a man, a Jewish man.

But Joseph was not the first person in the Bible that God called and tasked with a great responsibility.

·        Seventy-five year old Abraham was going about his business in what is now Iraq, taking care of sheep and goats, and farming the land!  And then God comes and says: “Hey you, leave your land, your relatives, and from your father’s house and go to a land that I will show you. I promise to bless you and make you a great nation.”

·        Then there is Moses, a stutterer like me, whom God calls to liberate his people from Egypt, but to do that he has to pass through the Pharaoh!

·        And then you have the Prophets, whom God calls to speak truth to power and the whole nation, delivering messages that people don’t want to hear.  In today’s reading, for example, King Ahaz does not want to hear Isaiah’s prophecy that a Messiah will be born of a virgin.

And so, as a faithful Jew, Joseph must have been aware of how God operates.  And that is why, even if he is a little reluctant, he takes up the challenging job that God is giving him, taking pregnant Mary as his wife into his home.

And we know that Joseph carried out this mission as a father faithfully, accepting the usual challenges of a new born baby and far more serious ones.

·        It was their luck that Caesar was carrying out the census during Mary’s last trimester!  And they had to travel all the way from Nazareth to Bethlehem.  According to Mapquest, that is a distance of 100 miles and it would take you two hours by car, four and a half hours by public transport and 34 hours on foot!  Just think of the hours it took some people to get to Baton Rouge or Jackson, during Katrina!

·        And after going through the ordeal of travel, they get to Bethlehem and the hotels and hospitals are full!  I remember when my youngest brother was born in Uganda!  My mother and father walked to the hospital, thankfully two miles, not 100 miles, but there was no one to care for them.  So they returned home and a neighbour assisted my mother to give birth in our house.  Joseph and Mary did not even have that luxury of giving birth in her own home.  They had to give birth in a cowshed!

·        After the birth of Jesus, their problems did not end.  Now, with a new born child, they had to flee to go Egypt, a foreign country, rather than return to the comfort of their home in Nazareth. Think about the Syrian refugees today or any other refugees for that matter!  That was the call of Joseph!

Christian Life

Friends, God has not stopped calling people for his work, nor has he stopped asking a lot from those he calls.  Like he called Joseph and Mary for their special job of bringing the Saviour into this world, God also calls us too!  I can think of two challenging calls for us today: the call to marriage and the call to priesthood.

The call to Christian marriage is a call from God to lifetime commitment to each other, and to the task of raising children in the faith.  Those of you who are married will surely agree that this is not always an easy task!

·        What do you do when the romance in the marriage has died out?  What do you do when you no longer recognize the person you said “Yes” to at the altar all those years ago?  What do you do when your husband or wife is seriously ill for a long time?  Like God demanded much of Joseph and Mary, God demands of you total fidelity and commitment to each other, till "death do us part."

·        And then there is the commitment to the children.  Like he did to Joseph and Mary, God places a great responsibility in your hands as a mother and father, of raising a child or two or three, not just by feeding, clothing and generally keeping them healthy, but also raising them to know and love God and their neighbour.  This job of parenting, of teaching God’s ways has never been easy, but is made more difficult today by the often competing media messages that glorify materialism, drugs and sex.

And yet you carry on as married people and as parents, knowing that this is a call from God, who always demands much from those he calls.

Sometimes people think that the grass is greener on the other side!  Married people might think that the life of priests, sisters and brothers, who are not married, must be easy!  Well, not exactly.

·        If God calls the married people to be mothers and fathers of two or three or four children, he calls the priest to be the Father of all his parishioners, even those who don't like him particularly.

·        If God calls the married people to teach their children, he calls the priest to preach to all his parishioners, speaking to them individually and addressing their individual concerns, all with the same 12 minute homily.

·        If God calls married people to be faithful spouses to each other, he calls the priest to be a faithful bridegroom to his bride, the whole Church.

Conclusion

In a few days we will be celebrating Christmas, because Joseph and Mary took up their call, of bringing God’s Son into this world.   Many other men and women in history have done the same, responding to God's call to do something for him.  As St. Theresa of Avila reminds us, we are the hands, the eyes, the ears and the feet of Christ.  Are you ready to be another Joseph, to do your bit for God?