Fourth Sunday of Advent
Matthew 1, 18-24

There was a story of a man who was so deeply devoted to St Joseph that when he died he was at the gates of heaven and being interviewed by St Peter. St Peter, after assessing the record of this man, declined him entry to heaven straight away, but this man argued that he was a St Joseph devotee. Then at the gate appeared St Joseph. St Peter said that he couldn’t let the man enter because he doesn’t pray to anyone else but only to St Joseph. Then St Joseph argued that it is just but the same. However, St Peter argued that it is not acceptable. So these two great saints debated. Exasperated, St Joseph said, “Well, if you will not let this man enter heaven, I’ll take my wife and my boy and we’ll move heaven somewhere else.” St Peter finally gave in and let this St Joseph devotee enter heaven.

Among the different narratives that were written before the birth of Jesus, Matthew’s is the best description of the dilemma of Joseph and also has given us an idea of what kind of man is Jesus’ legal father.

The gospel for today opens with a description of the circumstances and the events prior to Jesus’ birth. It begins with Mary being betrothed to Joseph. Before a couple could live together in one house, they had to undergo three processes. First is the period of courtship. This is the time for the couple to get to know each other better. Second is the period of betrothal. This period is described as both parties together with their parents making a formal agreement that their children will get married after this period. This should not be confused with our idea of “engagement” because unlike engagement, a betrothed couple are already considered by Jewish law married even though they are not yet living under one roof. And this period would last for about a year if the woman was a virgin or six months if the woman was a widow. Then after this period the husband could now take his wife to his home, beginning begins the formal wedding where the feasting can last for as long as week.

However, in the gospel for today, Mary was found with child before the end of the betrothal period. This puts Joseph in a deep dilemma. Society very much frowns on a man if he gets his wife pregnant before the end of the betrothal period. However, since Joseph is very sure that what Mary is carrying is not his child, he could easily accuse Mary of adultery and he could have her stoned for being unfaithful to him. But Joseph was a “righteous man”, meaning he would want to do the right thing and protect Mary from shame. So his intention is to divorce her “quietly”. This seems to be the best option for Joseph as he can move on with his life and Mary can have her child without the shame of being stoned to death.

But we know that the angel Gabriel would reveal to Joseph God’s plan for our salvation and also to allay his fears that Mary has never been unfaithful but on the contrary Mary is being faithful to God’s plan.

Sadly, we live in a world where we are conscious of what people around us would say. Definitely Joseph has faith in Mary especially after the angel’s message to him in a dream. However, Joseph knew that his neighbours would never believe their story. And this would manifest itself later in the gospels through comments of Jesus’ neighbours about him and Mary. Yet, Joseph remained faithful to God’s plan.

We live our lives to do the will of God and sometimes we have to set aside our own plans and trust in God’s plan that it will work. May the remaining days of the Advent season be a lesson for us of trust and faithfulness to God’s plan.