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

 Homily for 4^th Sunday of Advent Year A 2025-26

Introduction

In Luganda, there is a word many of us know very well: mujananyina.  It refers to a child who comes with the mother when she enters marriage.

That child is not biologically the father’s.  Everyone in the village knows it. People may talk. Relatives may watch closely.

Yet we also know something else. There are good men—strong men—who accept such a child fully.  They say, “This child comes with the woman I love.”

From that day on, the child is no longer “hers alone.”

• He welcomes the child and feeds the child from his sweat.
• He disciplines the child, and protects the child.

Such a man is respected, because he chooses love over pride, and responsibility over comfort. Today’s Gospel is about a man like that.

Scripture and Theology

We have just heard in the gospel, that “When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.”  This child was clearly not Joseph’s biologically.  In human terms, the child Mary was carrying would have been a mujananyina.

That helps us understand why we are also told that: “Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly.”  At first, Joseph does not see how he himself can take responsibility for a child that is not his; maybe he wants her to marry the man who made her pregnant. Yet even then, he chooses to act honourably.  He does not shame Mary. He does not expose her. He chooses mercy.

But then the Lord intervenes.  He sends him an angel with a special message: “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.”  The angel acknowledges that the child is not biologically Joseph’s, but makes something very clear: God himself is at work in this pregnancy.

And the angel continues: “She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” The name Jesus, or Yeshua, means “God saves.”

Joseph then accepted this great responsibility of raising a child who was not his, on behalf of God.  We have to remember that while Jesus was truly God, he was also truly human, meaning that he had to learn things just like any child.

·      Joseph taught him how to walk and speak

·      Joseph taught him how to pray and know God’s law

·      Joseph taught him how to work with his hands as a carpenter

In short, Joseph taught the Son of God 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 overcome 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 works.  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 and the child she is carrying 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.

·      He had to walk with Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem.  Do you know how far that distance is?  I checked. It about 100 miles, like from Mbale to Lugazi.  Moreover, Mary was in her last weeks of pregnancy!

·      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!  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, rather than return to the comfort of their home in Nazareth. Think about the many refugees in the world, today, some of whom even come to Uganda.  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 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 short 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 celebrate Christmas because Joseph accepted the child.  He did not fully understand. He was afraid. But he trusted God.  Like the man who accepts a mujananyina, Joseph chose love, responsibility, and faith.

This Advent, God is calling each of us—in our families, in our villages, in our Church. The question is not whether the task is easy.

The question is: Are we ready, like Joseph, to accept and give everything when God asks?