Today's Reflections
The Birth of Jesus
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Mt 1:18-24
18This
is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was
betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with
child through the holy Spirit. 19Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. 20Such
was his intention when, behold, the 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 it is through the holy Spirit that
this child has been conceived in her.
21She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:/ 23(Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,/ and they shall name him Emmanuel,)/ which means, “God is with us.” 24When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.
Reflection:
They shall name him Emmanuel.
The story about the birth of Jesus given in the Gospel focuses on the
conception of the Child by Mary as the fulfillment of the Emmanuel
prophecy of Isaiah. According to the prophecy, the child shall be named
Emmanuel, which means, “God is with us.” We are given an advance notice
of the good news of Christmas: that the Son of God became man, became
one of us, and is with us.
Sin
isolates a person from others. A group of sinful men/women is a group
of self-centered individuals, each one centered on oneself. What has God
done? God has sent us his Son to be one of us, to live among us as
Jesus, that is, the God who saves (Jesus means Yahweh saves). Jesus
saves us by living among us as the visible expression of God-Love, the
God who is not self-centered but who reaches out to others in love.
As
Christmas approaches, let us open ourselves more and more to Jesus who
was born as God-with us. Let us open our self-centered selves to him and
make him the center of our lives. When we all have one center, and when
this center is the embodiment of God’s love for us all, then we shall
be one with each other in him. We will be magkakapamilya (of one family), magkakapuso (of one heart), and magkakapatid (brothers and sisters).
“Matthew tells us that the greatest revelation
given to us by Jesus Christ is the stupendous truth
that God is always present to all of us”
(Nil Guillemette SJ).
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