Readings (Year A):
Isaiah 7:10 – 14
Romans 1:1 – 7
Psalm 24:1 – 2, 3 – 4, 5 – 6
Matthew 1:18 – 24
Reflection: God has become human to renew our communal bonds
This season, everyone picks Christmas gifts for loved ones. Parents place exciting gifts under the Christmas tree, to bring joy to the hearts and faces of their children. They look forward to seeing their children excitedly open packages to reveal the gifts enclosed. The other day, on the train, I overheard a conversation about what surprise gift might please the speaker’s niece this Christmas. Families have already planned Christmas dinner, picked a family member whose turn it is to host, and even picked matching colors to wear to the dinner.
Many people go beyond celebrating with immediate family or friends, and reach out to acquaintances, co-workers and neighbors. Some will donate cheerfully to charities like the Salvation Army, to bring Christmas cheers to others. In all these instances, one thing remains clear: we are celebrating our love, presence, and the bond of relationship we share with one another, which has been made possible by the story of God’s presence among us.
In the first reading for this last Sunday of Advent, God reveals the fulfillment of the divine plan to reunite with us, to renew our relationship with him by being present to us. The initiative comes from God and brings renewal to our relationship with one another. In the stories of creation, and here in the incarnation story, we meet a relational God who has deep concern for our well-being.
The prophecy of Isaiah discloses that God became human for our sake, to enter into a personal relationship with us, for our own renewal and flourishment. God is born into our essence, sharing in our nature, thereby bringing renewal to our original state from within. God sharing in our nature makes it possible for us also to share in the holiness of God’s nature. The second reading reminds us of our bond with God’s spirit of holiness, and with Jesus Christ our Lord—and our divine election into holiness.
We are chosen and called by God into relationship. This divine calling demands a life of holiness, as Paul reminds the church in Rome in the second reading. This renewed state of life is because we belong to Christ; we have established a relationship with God, and been gifted with the grace of living as a community of holy people in the world.
This relationship changes and elevates us, from self-interest to consciousness of our communal bond with one another through Christ. The gift of holiness restores us to our common dignity, connects us to our shared nature with God, creates the consciousness of our shared noble state with one another, and motivates our communal interaction and growth in affectionate care for one another.
Similarly, the gospel reading points us to the theme of relationship, to call our attention to our bond of union with God and with one another. Through Mary, the daughter of Joachim and Ann, and Joseph, the son of David, God comes to abide with us, taking our nature and dwelling among us: Emmanuel, God with us.
The stories of this Sunday and season invite us to embrace the relationship of communal interest with one another. The visit of the Magi and the shepherds, the hospitality the holy family received in Egypt, the conversation between Simeon and Mary, and the proclamation of the prophet Anne to the inhabitants of Jerusalem reveal the character of the relationship that God brings to the human family.
So this Sunday we are exhorted to build up our relationships with one another, the foundation of which God established by dwelling among us. Let us remove the barriers of isolation, tear down the walls of racial division, so that we can connect with one another on the basis of our shared transcendent nature as God’s children. Let us discourage activities that demonize others and diminish our appreciation of our shared humanity. In this season of Christmas, let us build one another up, because God has renewed our humanity by coming among us.
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