Hope is a little child

Our gospel reading tomorrow, the fourth and last Sunday of Advent, is from the Gospel of Matthew (1:18-24).

The reading covers the conception of Jesus Christ.

As told in the Scripture, Mary and Joseph are engaged to be married when Mary suddenly becomes pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.

A miracle such as this would not have been easily believed; in fact, the punishment would have required Mary to be stoned to death. Joseph being a just man wants to break off the engagement to spare Mary.

However, an angel appears to Joseph in a dream and told Joseph not to be afraid to take Mary for his wife.

For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.

The birth of Jesus doesn’t happen without Mary because it was Mary through that the humanity of Jesus was brought into the world and the divinity of Jesus happened through God the Father.

Mary is the Theotokos or God-bearer” or “Birth-giver to God,” this title highlights Mary’s primary role to Jesus, who is the Son of God, fully divine and fully human; and this became possible because of Mary’s participation in the plan of salvation. Mary cooperated with redemption, with grace.

Joseph’s response to the call by the Holy Spirit is exemplary.

He courageously faced the danger of isolation, reputations likely destroyed, as the entire town would have been talking poorly of them for taking Mary, who was conceiving, home.

Sometimes, we are called by God to make difficult decisions in life; decisions that put us in a spot or create crises in our lives.

These situations may scare us or something, or sometimes expose us to judgment or ridicule from others.

But in situations like these, we need to pray for discernment; listen carefully to the urgings of the Holy Spirit to boldly and courageously heed his call to take the righteous path. In the end, God always keeps his promise and never abandons those who heed his call.

Who says following the footsteps of Christ is easy?

As Jesus himself warns us, the path to salvation is narrow and hard, but the way to perdition is easy and wide. It is easy to lose hope, especially in these challenging times.

Thankfully, Christmas points us to a disposition of hope.

My wife Titay, in a commencement speech she delivered last Thursday (which story I will use in my own commencement speech tomorrow at the Ateneo School of Government, quotes Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa OFM Cap.

In his Second Advent Sermon for this year, the preacher of the Papal Household recalls a story from a famous French Catholic thinker:

“Christmas can be the occasion for a leap of hope. The great modern poet of the theological virtues, Charles Péguy, wrote that Faith, Hope and Charity are three sisters, two adults and a little girl.

“They go down the street holding hands: the two big ones, Faith and Charity, on the sides and the little girl Hope in the center. Everyone seeing them thinks that it is the two big ones that drag the little one in the center.

“They are wrong! It is she who drags everything. Because if hope fails, everything stops.”

Titay also quotes from Sr. Teresa Walker, in her Advent-inspired reflection on the mystery of hope. The latter explains Péguy’s view on these virtues.

She says: “Of the 3 virtues, hope is indispensable to the other two, for in reality it is she who enables them to carry on walking: xxx it is she who drags them along. Without her, they would be nothing.”

Walker continues: “Hope humanises faith. She knows it is not easy, or even possible, for us to believe in God unceasingly and without ever doubting, knows it is impossible for us always to live up to the demands of the faith we profess.

“As she wakes up every morning, vulnerable but invincible, she sensitizes us to notice the tiny glimmers of light in the thick darkness that so often envelops us; she reminds us that if our faith weakens and we lose sight of God on life’s journey, we can always rediscover his presence and walk with him again.

“As for charity, and this can be said of love as well, hope reveals that mutuality is its true fulfilment.

“For charity is not just giving to those in need; it is also receiving from them, valuing what they offer, and it is hope that prompts this recognition of the importance of a reciprocal exchange of gifts.”

Faith is a cathedral. Charity is a hospital. But hope is a person.

Hope is a little child, and at Christmas, that child’s name first is Mary who as a young woman said yes to the impossible. And of course Jesus, our messiah and savior, truly “God with us.”

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