Emmanuel - God is with us
My dear brothers and sisters,
The liturgy today gives us some background for the Christmas feast that
we need to take to heart.
In the First Reading, Ahaz was told to ask for a sign, a sign for himself coming either from the
depths of Sheol or from the heights above. The Lord himself, therefore, will
give him a sign. It is this: the maiden is with child and will soon give birth
to a son whom she will call Emmanuel, a name which means "God-is-with-us”.
The sign given to Ahaz was both from above and from below – a maiden
with child who would be called God-is-with-us. To Ahaz at that point of
salvation history the prophecy is not clear. It will become clear as time goes
on. Heaven will live on earth in a human child who is truly God.
In the second reading, St. Paul speaks of our Lord's
connection to King David. St. Joseph is a direct descendant of David -
it's the reason why he goes with Mary to register for the census decreed by
Rome. Bethlehem is the city of David's birth. Incidentally,
Bethlehem means "House of Bread" - a direct allusion to Jesus as the
Bread of Life. David, the great king of the Old Testament era, would now
give way to the King of Kings, Jesus the Lord.
In the Gospel, St. Matthew notes that all that was to take
place would be to fulfill the words of the prophet Isaiah - which we read in
our first reading and is quoted in the Gospel. Isaiah tells us that the
child's name shall be Emmanuel - God is with us. Indeed, God actually
condescended to take on our humanity.
As Christmas approaches quickly, we are invited, in a
spiritual way, to go to Bethlehem. Pay close attention to what we see and
what we hear and what we feel. It is cold. It is dark. It is
poor and it is VERY humble. Yet, in the serenity of that silent night,
there is majesty greater than that of King David. It is at long last the
completion of what Isaiah had prophesied so many years ago - a savior is born
to us. He is like us in all things but sin.
My dear brothers and sisters,
The feast that we are going to
celebrate reminds us very powerfully that the God we believe in is a God who
became one of us. He made himself Immanuel. He wanted to show us that He was
not yet tired of us. He took a form that we could see and touch.
How marvellously true is the mystery that we celebrate this
week? God takes on a human form so that we might see Him with our own
eyes. Let the celebration of Christmas, then, rekindle in us our own deep
desire for God: to hear, see and touch Him.
The Lord has made known his salvation.
All the ends of the earth have seen the
salvation of our God,
Shout to the Lord all the earth, ring out your
joy (Ps 97). Amen
Fr. Joseph Pham Quoc Van, O.P.
