Fr. Bob’s homily 4th Sunday of Advent A
4th Sunday of Advent A
It sometimes surprises us, but in Matthew’s Gospel, the focal point of the birth of Jesus is not on Mary, but Joseph. In fact, Mary does not speak a word in the birth narrative while all the action appears on Joseph’s side. To him belongs the dream and to him belongs the decisions we await for salvation history to unspool.
So let us follow Joseph through this story in the Ignatian style. St. Ignatius of Loyola trained his Jesuits to choose a character from a Gospel story and follow them along imagining what their emotions and reactions would be. Perhaps it is why Pope Francis has such keen insights into the Gospel.
We meet Joseph in the middle of the story. We are told simply that Mary became pregnant in the time after she was betrothed to Joseph but before they lived together. Imagine…
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