The Gift of Myself And My Service

Fourth Sunday of Advent
23 December 2007


First reading Isaiah 7:10 - 14
Once again the Lord spoke to Ahaz and said, ‘Ask the Lord your God for a sign for yourself coming either from the depths of Sheol or from the heights above’. ‘No,’ Ahaz answered ‘I will not put the Lord to the test.’
Then he said:
Listen now, House of David:
are you not satisfied with trying the patience of men
without trying the patience of my God, too?
The Lord himself, therefore,
will give you a sign.
It is this: the maiden is with child
and will soon give birth to a son
whom she will call Immanuel.

Second reading Romans 1:1 - 7
From Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus who has been called to be an apostle, and specially chosen to preach the Good News that God promised long ago through his prophets in the scriptures.

This news is about the Son of God who, according to the human nature he took was a descendant of David: it is about Jesus Christ our Lord who, in the order of the spirit, the spirit of holiness that was in him, was proclaimed Son of God in all his power through his resurrection from the dead. Through him we received grace and our apostolic mission to preach the obedience of faith to all pagan nations in honour of his name. You are one of these nations, and by his call belong to Jesus Christ. To you all, then, who are God’s beloved in Rome, called to be saints, may God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ send grace and peace.

Gospel Matthew 1:18 - 25
This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. 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.’ Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel,
a name which means ‘God-is-with-us’. When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home and, though he had not had intercourse with her, she gave birth to a son; and he named him Jesus.

Reflection
By Nicola S. Albano

This Gospel is a huge part of our Catholic faith. No amount of science can explain how this ever happened. Can you just imagine how to explain this mystery to non-believers? What if it happened to you? If you're a single, young female, will you accept the responsibility of bearing a child, and not just any ordinary child, but the Son of God? Maybe if you're single... but how about if you're betrothed, just got engaged? I would probably freak out and totally lose my mind. I couldn't even afford to have a kitty or a puppy at this point. This is a colossal responsibility.

What if you're the guy and you just proposed to your girlfriend and soon found out that she's pregnant? Sounds like a nightmare, doesn't it? This had been and still is a not so pleasant situation to be in especially if you're surrounded by judgmental people. This topic is very challenging for me, so please allow me to break it down to the basic things I learned when I was a lot younger.

Having been born and raised in Manila, Philippines where almost 100% of the population is Catholic, and having fifteen years of Catholic education under my belt, it did not really bother me to question that much about this. I lived in my Catholic bubble. From my kindergarten days until I graduated high school in ICAM (Immaculate Conception Academy of Manila), we were told to remain faithful and not ask because there is no logic. It was also reinforced in my college days in UST (University of Santo Tomas). Around this time in my life I was also playing the role of the angel in the nativity scene for several years. I was very faithful because I was a child who believes in magic and flying fairies. Remember that story of the little boy playing in the sand trying to put the entire ocean in the hole that he dug? I totally get the symbolism. But the situation becomes a lot hairier sometimes.

Since I moved to the US, I spend each day in such a diverse population. I had to adjust to the society. And then when I attended nursing school in Drexel University, I was taught not to be judgmental, to care for my patient without regard to race, sex, beliefs, etc. This I've been doing for about seven years and it's like second nature to me now. But I always get so fired up when I get into debates with non-Catholics about the Nativity, or the Immaculate Conception. But yes, my human brain cannot explain it. I just believe. I am but God's servant. And I really do not want to argue about my faith because I do not challenge other people's faiths either. I respect them and expect that they return the same amount of respect I give. I do believe in miracles which raises conflict in my daily living because I am a medical technologist/clinical laboratory scientist and a nurse. My profession demands that I have a rationale for everything that I do. But then again, nursing is also an art. And I've witnessed at least one medical miracle on my unit.

As humans, we want answers. We may not always get the answers or even if we do, those answers do not meet our expectations. And then we get frustrated. It's like when we want something (in my case, a MAC or an iphone, or my very own home close to work) or somebody so bad, we pray for it or him or her fervently. And then we get tired. The challenge is to remain faithful. How boring do you think life would be if we get everything we want so easily? We will get the answers. We just have to remember that patience is a virtue. We need to remain faithful that good things will happen to good people. Faith requires persistence. Remember what Jesus said? "Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened for you." It has to come from within us.

Blessed are we to have Mama Mary because she accepted to bear the Child Jesus through the Holy Spirit! And blessed are we to have Saint Joseph for believing the angel who appeared in his dream to have the courage to stay with Mama Mary and raise the family. And blessed are we for having Jesus as our Savior. This blessedness is my inspiration this coming Christmas. I miss home and my family. It's no joke to be very lonely and very cold here in NYC this Christmas. But I will be spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Night with my patients and the Holy Family in spirit. That's the best gift I can offer this year. The gift of myself and my service.