Texts taken from the “On Your Word” Missal November-December 2022

4th Sunday of Advent (A)
4th week, Psalter

FIRST READING

From the book of the prophet Isaiah (Is 7:10-14)
In those days, the Lord spoke to Ahaz: “Ask the Lord your God for a sign, either from the depths of the underworld or from the heights above.” But Ahaz answered: “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.” Then Isaiah said: “Listen, house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary people, that you must also weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold: the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.” – The word of God.

Commentary on the first reading

Ahaz is the emblem, the symbol, of all those who think they can hide the truth from God. Urged by the prophet Isaiah to ask for a sign, so as to be certain that the Lord had taken up his cause and, consequently, that of the oppressed people, the king thinks he can come out of it with his head held high by claiming that he does not want to put the Lord to the test. If our reading stopped at this point, Ahaz would emerge as a hero; in reality, the king had already put his strategy into action and had arranged his political and military alliances. In this way, he shows his bad faith. That is why he receives the prophet’s severe rebuke. God, however, does not allow human cunning to hinder his work of salvation and redemption. More than feeling offended by Ahaz, God is concerned with saving the people and making them understand once again his passionate love. How often do we also hide our deep unbelief behind a false act of faith? How often do we say that we believe in God and trust in his providence, while we have already planned everything, as though he did not exist?

SECOND READING

From the letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Romans  (Rom 1:1-7)
Paul, servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God – which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures and concerns his Son, born of the seed of David according to the flesh, appointed Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness through the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord; through him we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the nations for the sake of his name, and among them you are also those called by Jesus Christ –,
to all those in Rome, loved by God and called to be saints, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! – The word of God.

Commentary on the second reading

The beginning of the Letter to the Romans, behind the apparent simplicity of a greeting, conceals everything that makes a person a disciple of the Lord. Paul presents his identity card, which is no longer the one recorded at birth, the one he received by birth and which we can read about in chapter 3 of the Letter to the Philippians. Now his identity is completely new; it is not given to him by generation but by redemption. The former came from history, the latter solely from grace. Servant of Jesus Christ, like Mary, the Mother of the Lord, made an apostle not through his own merits but solely by grace, chosen out of love. What strength these few words contain! They describe the great dignity bestowed by the Father through Jesus and, at the same time, open life to the immense horizon of love. We should always keep these characteristics impressed on our minds and hearts, for they are not Paul’s alone; they were also given to each of us on the day of our Baptism. Without looking at our merits, God has called us to take an active part in the history of salvation. Saved in order to save.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 1:18-24)
This is how Jesus Christ came to be: his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man and did not want to expose her publicly, decided to divorce her quietly. But just as he was considering these things, behold, an 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 the child conceived in her comes from the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. – The Gospel of the Lord.

Commentary on the Gospel of the day

With the Lord’s Nativity now close at hand, the liturgy draws our attention to Joseph’s inner struggle, which becomes the struggle of every man and woman faced with God’s astonishing proposal. This is a wonderful page from Matthew’s Gospel that, unfortunately, we often read superficially, accustomed as we are to hearing it proclaimed several times during the liturgical year. Careful work is therefore necessary to remove the encrustations of time, so that all the light carried by this passage may shine forth. Joseph, a righteous man, that is, someone who held the entire Law of the Lord dear, finds himself having to make a dramatic choice: obey what Leviticus prescribed and therefore report Mary, exposing her to public disgrace and stoning, or obey his love for that young woman, who had been willing to put her own life in danger in order to obey God’s desire? After all, who could guarantee Joseph that Mary was telling the truth? He surrenders to sleep, and there, when he lets himself go and becomes subject to the unforeseen, he is visited by the angel, who confirms Mary’s account and encourages Joseph to follow the path of love and abandon that of the Law.