Today, the Sunday before Christmas, the Church acts as “heir hunter†for us, to teach us who we are and where we come from. This teaching involves a lesson about Jesus Himself, about who He is. St. Matthew has begun his Gospel story with a genealogy, a family tree, to show us the bloodline of Jesus. He now goes on to tell us the story of Jesus’ birth. This is what happened, he says. We hear the story of Mary and Joseph, and of a surprise pregnancy. St. Matthew then relates to us the explanation. This Child is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. He is the Son of Mary, and Son of God. God is with us. With this understanding, St. Joseph makes a home for mother and child.
In our warring and troubled world it can be a sad and ironic thing to see and to hear claims made by one side or another in a conflict that “God is on our sideâ€, or “God is with usâ€. The Gospel is a universal message, not a partial one. God is with us all, not just with some. As inheritors of the Gospel, we are called to live each day in the obedience of faith, and called to bring together in unity the scattered children of God.