“This is how the birth of Jesus came about.” The gospel reading today started out with these words. It sounds a lot like a parent who was getting ready to tell the story about the birth of baby Jesus to their children. Bedtime stories are a wonderful way to share your faith with your small children or grandchildren. The stories in the bible about the birth of baby Jesus are an excellent way to prepare your children (and yourself) for the true meaning of Christmas.
And of course, Saint Matthew was getting ready to do just that, except he was preparing to tell this story to the new Christians and record it for future generations as well. His words are plain, simple, and easy for everyone to understand, even little children.
The circumstances of Christ’s birth may be complicated, but Saint Matthew did such a beautiful job, patiently explaining Christ’s birth in a way that everyone could relate to, both young and old. Baby Jesus was born for everyone, after all. Everyone is included and are welcomed by Christ to this day.
When we gather our families for Christmas dinner and other Christmas celebrations, we need to keep this in mind and include everyone. Sometimes there are certain family members who are at odds with the rest of the family, but they too, should be included in the Christmas celebrations. Family is family, after all. We should encourage the acceptance, and inclusion, of all of our family members in our Christmas celebrations. This is how baby Jesus is also made present in our world to this day, because he came to forgive our sins. Can we do no less with those who may have offended us in the past?
Today’s gospel story about how the conception of baby Jesus came to be, is a perfect example of how misunderstandings can occur between people who genuinely love each other, whether that is in a marriage, in close friendships or with our family members.
Joseph was so certain that Mary was pregnant with another man’s child that he had already made the decision to divorce her. What changed his mind was a dream. An angel came to him in a dream and told him the truth about Mary’s child. Joseph listened to the angel in his dream and believed him, when many other people would have simply disregarded the dream as just a dream. It took a lot of faith on Joseph’s part to trust God because of a dream.
Do we tend to disregard people when they try to tell us the truth about something we don’t believe, and don’t want to hear? Joseph was a simple man with a good heart, even in his sleep. Saint Joseph had an open heart, which led to an open mind, even in his sleep, and even against his own objections, he accepted what the angel said to him was true.
Dreams are not to be totally disregarded in our own lives either. No, we shouldn’t trust just our average dreams, but on a rare occasion God may reveal something that is important for us to understand, in our sleep. When we are asleep, we are often more relaxed and a little more receptive to God’s voice. If you remember your dream the next day, or the next week, or even months down the road, it is something to pay particular attention to.
The angel could have come in person to Saint Joseph, like the angel Gabriel did with Mary, but he didn’t. The angel probably came to Saint Joseph in a dream, because he was relaxed and more receptive to hearing something that was contrary to what he believed.
God always knows the right way to approach us if it is something important. Most of the time it is through the normal means of everyday living, but on rare occasions, like with Saint Joseph, we may be approached by God or his heavenly messengers in an unusual way. What is awesome about Saint Joseph is that he didn’t question it, he immediately acted on what he heard in his sleep, as soon as he woke up. That takes a lot of faith.
Saint Joseph made an instant decision that enabled the whole sequence of events to fall into place, that led to nothing greater than the birth of baby Jesus and the salvation of mankind. What if he hadn’t listened and acted on what the angel told him? Little decisions matter in our lives too. A small decision, (both good or bad) can change the course of our life, the lives of our family and friends, and future generations as well.
Baby Jesus was born for the salvation of mankind because of a small decision Mary made, and then a small decision Saint Joseph made too. God’s plan for the salvation of the entire world, and all future generations came about because of two very small decisions made on the spur of the moment.
If we remain open to God’s grace at work in our own life, and view the world with eyes of love for Him and for other people, we will instinctively choose to make good decisions. We won’t even have to think too much about it. Our relationship with God and Jesus Christ comes first and then our relationships with others.
Have we made any little decisions that have distanced us from God and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Neglecting prayer, shopping too much, spending too much time on the computer or television? These same little decisions can also distance us from one another. Time spent on Facebook or sending text messages or emails are fun, but visiting one another in person, or even talking to them on the telephone is a much better thing. Small decisions like this affect the quality of our relationships. How many times have we stayed up too late on the computer and never got around to saying our prayers before we went to bed?
Tonight is a good night, to make prayer (and perhaps bedtime stories with our children) more of a priority in our lives. There is still time this Advent, to prepare ourselves and our families to more genuinely and beautifully, celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.
