“Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel.”
The prophet Isaiah had prophesied the virgin birth of Jesus in the Old Testament in Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (God with us).
It would have been a text understood and known to Joseph. Since he was a righteous man, he knew it was the will of God. So he didn’t hesitate to take Mary as his wife. We already know he was predisposed to treat her with love and charity even when it appeared to be a scandal and must have been difficult for him.
That’s before he had the dream. Before an angel brought the message to him and told him who the child was and what to do.
Today we have the Gospel to tell us who Jesus is. We have scripture that foretells of the birth of Jesus and what it would mean. A sign. A messiah. God became one of us.
We have the sacraments to support us and enable us to grow in faith and grow closer to God.
In the Eucharist we join physically with God and he becomes parts of us. That is why we must be in a state of grace before receiving. That is why we must understand like Joseph exactly who we are receiving. This is no symbol or nice tradition.
The Eucharist which we will receive in a few minutes is truly real flesh of Jesus Christ. The truth is he was born and became fully man and was still fully God. And he not only wanted to be one of us out of love for us, but gave himself for us to enter not only spiritually but physically into our mortal bodies. Jesus has come to us and says “I am in all in!” I am withholding nothing from you. I am waiting.
Now that you know who I am and how much I love you are you ready to also say yes to my call. Take that little step, that slight change in direction of your life. Let yourself be more open to my Word.
That is what we are asked to do now. And we have been given so much to help us. Not only the sacraments of baptism that brought us into the family of God and made us children of God, but confirmation to further move us on our journey. We have been given marriage, a sacrament that reflects the love and oneness of Jesus and his Church. An experience where faithful spouses are able to become one as the Father and Son and Holy Spirit are one.
We have confession to bring us back to God when we fail.
We have been given a mother Mary in heaven who seeks to help us and pray for us. We have a guardian angel who prays for us and seeks to help us. All pointing to Jesus and wanting to encourage and help us on our way. And he gave us the Holy Spirit to reside inside us and guide us.
Joseph had a dream and it was enough for him to immediately follow the Word given and say yes.
How much more have you and I been given.
Jesus has created all things for us. He had surrounded us spiritually and physically. He had folks in heaven and on earth to help us.
We have heard everything we need to say yes to Jesus everyday and follow him.
Every action. Every decision should be done for Jesus Christ.
Next week we celebrate the birth of Christ where he comes to be with us as a babe in a manager. This is a story of how much we are loved. We were created to live a life pursuing a deeper relationship with God.
To love him and others.
This would be a good time to slow down and pause. Ask ourselves if we have made time for prayer that is unhurried.
Not stuck wherever we could fit it in, but prayer should become the foundation we build our day on. Prayer is never to be hurried, but slow. Because love is not a hurried thing but a slow thing. Let’s hit the pause button and push aside distractions that get in the way of our prayer and worship. You don’t need to answer that phone because it rings or buzzes. It rings so we can choose to answer or not.
We don’t need to spend hours on social media but more time in quiet and slow and focused prayer.
You know the Holy Rosary is a amazing prayer where we ask Mary for help and reflects the life of Jesus through his mother’s eyes.
What do we imagine she felt as she watched her son be tortured and murdered.
What should characterize our praying the Sorrowful
Mysteries. Quick rapid fire words as fast as we can get them out while we let our mind drift on things to do that day.
Or a slow recitation of the events leading to his death realizing the power of the Hail Mary as a prayer for help.
It can be a waste of time or a life changing experience as we really consider how did Mary feel at the foot of the cross. How sharp was the sword that cut her heart as she beheld her son. How could we possibly rush through that prayer. Some people can’t help but weep with Mary during the Sorrowful Mysteries, and they wonder why thy cry. But we should all ask ourselves if we believe and love Jesus Christ at all… how can we pray the sorrowful mysteries and not cry.
The Rosary is a powerful weapon given to us and we should carry it with us each day. For we are always under attack and the evil one will bring distractions and make us hurry through our day. Making us feel hurried and lacking in more than we can do is a tool of the evil one. His goal is to demean our prayer life until it means nothing but fast-moving litanies that have little meaning and no power to change our heart at all.
Let’s slow down this week and think about our prayers, the gifts Jesus had given to help us and say yes to bringing him closer to us this season. He loved us first. He came to us first. He is with us now waiting for hearts to open and grow closer to his heart.
Deacon Tony Pynes 
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