Homily For The 4th Sunday Of Advent Year A.

Isaiah 7:10-14; Psalm 24:1-6; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-24.

“EMMANUEL: GOD-IS-WITH-US!”

By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide

·      Today is the fourth and last Sunday of Advent. It is a unique one at that. We celebrate the 4th Sunday of Advent this morning and later in the evening of the same day we shall celebrate the Vigil of Christmas. If you like you can call it the ‘rush hour Sunday’. We cannot but notice the mad rush to engage in the last minutes of shopping and preparation for Christmas both physical and spiritual.

·      Christmas is barely a day from today, having started the countdown, this last Sunday of Advent still gives us a last minute opportunity to put our hearts and house in order.

·      Dearly beloved in Christ, it is painful to observe that the ADVENT season rather than a time of preparation for the birth of the saviour of the world, has rather become an ADVERT season, where we sell all kinds of goods at exorbitant prizes to make surplus gains. We buy and buy even what we do not need to ensure that our houses are fully stocked for Christmas. While that is necessary, how much spiritual stock and strength have you and I gathered in preparation for the birth of Jesus?

·      Today the Lord draws our attention to the essentials of the season even when the accidentals add colour to the celebration, but to what end will it be to celebrate accidentals while neglecting the essentials which is that the coming of Emmanuel is near.

·      The essentials remain that the season is about Christ and not about us or our relatives, friends, and visitors. Jesus Christ remains and continues to be the reason for the season. Christ is both the chief host and the chief guest at Christmas.

·      The Christ we are expecting at Christmas is a spiritual being, hence our preparation should and must be first spiritual before including material preparation.

·      Some of us are still in doubt about the imminence of the Son of God. We take things for granted thereby living in sin and recklessness, we enjoy the season of Christmas without being enjoined to the joy of Christmas which is that “God-is-with-us”. We are in the celebration but of the celebration. Because those who are of the celebration are those who have adequately prepared themselves and are spiritually ready.

·      The birth of Jesus is both a historic and spiritual event. The gospel reading (Matthew 1:18-24) gives us a historical account of how Jesus came to be – he is the child of the spirit. We see the purpose for the birth of Jesus “She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). In this, we see that the human birth of Jesus was for our salvation. Hence if there was no Christmas there could be no “Good Friday”.

·      The gospel reading began with confusion in the mind of Joseph about the possibility of Mary having a child despite being a virgin. His decision to quietly divorce Mary was informed by his feeling of unworthiness to partake of the divine plan. His fear was borne out of humility and nothingness in the presence of the divine. He simply cannot imagine himself being part of such a divine plan. He had to be out of the picture. Just and humble man that he is, Joseph decided to divorce Mary quietly so as not to expose her to the law. At this point, the angel appeared to him in a dream to assure him: “Do not be afraid!” In other words, God is telling him, “Take courage! Do not be afraid!”. The gospel concludes by stating that “a virgin shall conceive and bear a son who is called Emmanuel – God is with us” (Matt. 1:23).

·      The second reading (Romans 1:1-7), also gives us the attributes and characteristics of this child who is to be born at Christmas and that we share in his life and mission, especially with the invitation to be saints which means to live a holy life, a life that is befitting of those waiting to receive Jesus at Christmas.

·      The realization that God is with us should feel every Christian with courage, faith, hope, and confidence, knowing that in all you do and say God is with us. Both the first and gospel reading reminds us to have courage and live through life because God is with us and what that means is that we should live in the consciousness that Christ is with us in whatever we do or whatever we are going through.

·      So when we are feeling low and discouraged, when our prayers are delayed, when our finances are not commensurate with our hard work, when ill health pulls us down when the economy is biting hard on us, when the home is no longer home, when people conspire against us, when you are going through any kind of difficulty, know it today and always that despite all of these, God-is-with-us! He has not abandoned us and he will never abandon us. He would rather make things better in his time.

·      It is about Christ who is coming to renew our strength, it is about him who is coming to fire us up with the light of the Holy Spirit at Christmas. We must make adequate preparations for him in our hearts.

·      In making these preparations, we must shun sin, pretence, fake lives, and sharp practices in the bid to have a flamboyant Christmas. If God must be with us, then we must prepare and be without sin and when we have purged ourselves of sin, we can now like the Psalmist say “Let the Lord enter! The king of Glory” (Ps. 24:1).

·      May the Lord reign in our lives as the king of glory and may he fill us with the consciousness that he is with us always until the end of time through Christ our Lord, Amen!

·      Happy Sunday!!!