As we move through these final days of Advent, today’s readings present us with two people going through a moment of turmoil and darkness – King Ahaz and St Joseph.

 King Ahaz, the king of Judah, was frightened because he found himself in a desperate and dangerous political and military situation. The northern kingdoms had formed a powerful alliance and planned to attack Judah and force Ahaz from his throne. Scripture says that his heart and the hearts of his people “shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind” (Is 7:2).

 St. Joseph’s struggle was more interior. He was profoundly disturbed because Mary, to whom he was already betrothed, was with child. Being a just and devout man, he would certainly have sensed the profound virtue and goodness of Mary. But how could he explain her pregnancy? The only thing he knew was that he was not the father of this child. And so he was torn between what the law required in such situations and what his heart sensed of Mary’s goodness. He resolved to do the most merciful thing he could think of: to withdraw quietly.

In both cases God intervened. He invited Ahaz to ask for a sign. Ahaz was afraid to put God to the test, so God himself gave him a sign: “The virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call him Emmanuel.” When St Joseph had already decided to quietly withdraw from Mary, an angel spoke to him in a dream: “Joseph, Son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.” Matthew then writes: “All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means God is with us”.

When we go through challenges, we might often find ourselves asking God: “Please give me a sign that I will get through this. Give me a sign that all will be well. Give me a sign that you have not forgotten me.” In these last days of Advent God is reminding us of the sign he gave to Ahaz, which was fulfilled in Mary. He is “Emmanuel, God with us”. When the angels appeared to the shepherds of Bethlehem, he told them: “This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger” (Lk 2:12).

Advent and Christmas remind us once again that God is truly with us in the nitty gritty routine of daily life. There’s a story of a little boy frightened by thunder. During a storm, he ran to his parents’ room. His mother said: “Don’t be afraid. God is with you.” He replied, “I know, but I want someone with skin on!” That’s exactly what we celebrate in this grace filled season. Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us. In Jesus, God has “skin on”. Though remaining true God, he has become true man and immersed himself in our human experience. He comes close enough to touch our wounds, close enough to walk our streets, close enough to cry our tears. In the Eucharist the same Jesus, who once lay in a manger, is now humbly hidden in the Host. St. John Vianney once said that if we truly understood the Eucharist, we would die of joy. God is with us so completely that He becomes our food, our Bread of Life.

God’s desire to remain with us did not stop at Bethlehem. It reached its summit in the Eucharist. At every Mass, that same Child of Bethlehem, now risen and glorified, comes again in the hidden form of bread and wine. The Eucharist is the sign God is now giving to show that He is truly with us – Emmanuel made present. St Teresa of Calcutta used to often say: “When you look at the crucifix, you understand how much Jesus loved you then; when you look at the tabernacle, you understand how much He loves you now.” If the angels, who appeared to the shepherds of Bethlehem, were to appear to us, they would say: “This will be a sign for you. You will find Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, hidden under the appearances of bread and wine.”

In a noisy world that often forgets God, He remains silently with us, waiting in every tabernacle, whispering in the depths of our hearts: “Do not be afraid. I am with you.” When we receive Jesus at Holy Communion, God-with-us becomes God-within-us. Every moment we spend before the Blessed Sacrament is a moment spent in the heart of Emmanuel. He fills us with Himself so that we can carry His presence into the world.

When like Ahaz and Joseph we go through our own moments of turmoil and fear, let’s remember: He is with us. When we carry our burdens: He is with us. When we sit in adoration and wonder if our prayers are heard: He is with us. When we leave the church and step into our daily routine: He walks with us, within us. Faith in Emmanuel does not remove our struggles; it reframes them. When we face difficulties like loneliness, misunderstandings, the monotony of our routine, we have only to remember: “God is with us”. That simple truth changes the way we face daily life. Every moment becomes Eucharistic – a thanksgiving, a communion, a presence. We stop waiting for God to appear in grand miracles and begin to recognize Him in the small gestures of love, the hidden sacrifices, the quiet faithfulness of each day. Belief in Emmanuel isn’t a comforting theory. It’s a radical way of living – seeing the invisible, loving the unnoticed, and trusting the unseen God who has chosen to dwell with us, not just at Christmas, but in every heartbeat of our life.

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One of the innovations of the post Vatican 2 liturgical renewal was to make this fourth Sunday of Advent more or less a feast of the divine and virginal Motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In doing this, the Roman Rite was adopting the tradition of the Ambrosian and other ancient Latin rites. Here for example is the Ambrosian Preface for this day, the Sixth Sunday of Advent in the Ambrosian Rite:

It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,

to celebrate this feast of blessed Mary, ever-Virgin.  

Her womb enclosed, in little space,

the great Creator of the heavens,

and as the Angel had foretold,

she gave birth to the world’s Redeemer,

the Word now clothed in human flesh,

the Saviour, conceived and born of her body,

leaving untouched her chaste virginity.  

And so with Angels ..

The Collect is more or less the old Missal Prayer after Communion for the Annunciation, (with its Lenten echo of ‘his Passion and Cross’ slightly out of place in Advent), while the Prayer over the offerings unites the mystery of the Incarnation with that of the Eucharist, both being brought about by the agency of the Holy Spirit.

Mary, Mother of God, is the last and greatest of the Advent characters, after Isaiah and John the Baptist. So it is appropriate that she should be honoured this close to Christmas.

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Note: These hymns have been chosen from the Laudate Hymnbook:

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87, Creator of the stars of night

113, The Angel Gabriel

109, Lo, he comes with clouds descending

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Also refer to Hymns in Laudate Hymn book for Sunday 4: 'O' Antiphons (111-112); hymns 113-117;

and Our Lady (Annunciation 330-334, The Magnificat; 23-25, 335-340, 880)

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