Fourth Sunday of Advent
Sunday, December 21, 2025
St. James Cathedral (8:00am, 10:00am, Noon)

Watch this homily! (begins at 37:30)

As we enter into the fourth week of Advent, St. Joseph gives us a model of courage and faith in the face of doubt and confusion.
 
There is much at stake in the situation Joseph finds himself in with his betrothed. The Book of Deuteronomy prescribes the penalty for a woman who is found to be pregnant before marriage. She is to be taken to the entrance to her father’s home, and there should be stoned to death by the men of the town. (Dt. 22: 20-21)
 
St. Matthew tells us that Joseph was a righteous man, meaning that he was particularly diligent in following the Law of Moses. He knew what the law called for, but he was unwilling to apply it rigidly. He decided, Matthew tells us, to divorce Mary quietly. 
 
But even this compassionate decision would leave the mother and her child without any standing in the community. And in this patriarchal society, they would be condemned to a life of poverty.
 
But Joseph is called to something even more. A messenger of the Lord comes to him in a dream and assures him. “Do not be afraid,” the angel tells him. Take Mary into your home because her pregnancy is the work of God and will achieve God’s plan for his people.
 
St. Matthew tells us that when Joseph awoke, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded and “took his wife into his home.”
 
There was an openness in Joseph, this faithful follower of God. He was docile in the face of not only the demands of the Law, but of the surprising way God was calling him.
 
Joseph stands in contrast to one of his ancient relatives, King Ahaz. In our first reading, the Prophet Isaiah is trying to serve as God’s messenger for Ahaz, pleading with him not to enter into military alliances that would eventually lead to the destruction of the people of God.
 
Isaiah says to Ahaz, ask for any kind of sign you want; you get to decide and what that sign is, and God will provide it so that you will know that you need not act out of fear. But Ahaz has already made up his mind. He is not docile in the face of the word of God. So he retreats to a false piety, saying that asking for such a sign will be to tempt the Lord.
 
Unlike Joseph, in the face of a threat to his understanding of what God is calling him to, he does not trust the Lord’s messenger; he does not act with courage and faith. He acts out of fear, and such action will lead to the eventual destruction of Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah.
 
So as the great celebrations of Christmas approach, the Church gives us these two figures from the House of David - the great king from whose line the Messiah is to come. One figure, Ahaz is one who acts out of fear, and the other, Joseph, is the one who trusts the Lord and acts with courage and faith.
 
Where are we in our journey of faith? Are there places in our life where we are living out of fear instead of courage and faith? Are we open or closed to messengers from God, maybe through the voices of family or friends, who reassure us, do not be afraid?
 
It is so easy to be fearful today. As a child I remember being afraid of the dark and my mom reassuring me that it’s OK, I didn’t have to be afraid. As we get older, our fears change. The first time we fall in love and have our hearts broken, we fear we cannot survive without the other person. And later in life we become fearful in the face of the loss of a job, the diagnosis of cancer in our spouse, or facing our own health crisis, or struggling with the death of a child or a parent.
 
It’s also easy to become fearful in the face of threats and perceived threats in our world today. Random and targeted violence against people, and the rhetoric that encourages such violence; wars in so many places; the disregard for those who live on the margins; a growing tendency toward authoritarianism in our country and throughout the world - to name just a few of the dominant threats that can engender fear in us.
 
We have the same choices before us as the people of God have always had. In the face of our fear we can retreat to a rigid religious piety that leaves no room for God’s voice speaking in particular circumstances. We can make up our own minds about how to face our fears and ignore God’s surprising word to us. Or we can choose another way.
 
“Do not be afraid,” the messenger tells righteous Joseph, and he tells us today. Joseph strove to follow God’s word in his every day life. But his particular kind of  righteousness kept him open to the surprising way God entered into his life.

Both the Prophet Isaiah and the angel who visits Joseph tell of the source of our courage and faith. It is Emmanuel, God with us. In the coming days we will celebrate Christmas, that great feast that shows the depth of God’s love and care for us.
 
Let us prepare for our great celebrations this week by opening ourselves to the Lord’s presence among us. It is a presence that speaks to us, like the tender words of a mother and says, “Do not be afraid, I am here with you.”
 
The Eucharist we share today plunges us once again into that saving life, death and resurrection of the Messiah, the promised one, Jesus the Christ. Here, at this Table, we are given food for the journey of faith.
 
Whatever fear we may have, personal fears, or fears for our world, the Lord calls us to courage and faith. He calls us to trust in the one who comes among us in flesh and blood and assures us that he is always here, always Emmanuel, always God with us.

Father Gary F. Lazzeroni