4th Sunday of Advent (A)

4th Sunday of Advent (A): Readings: Isaiah 7: 10-15; Romans 1: 1-7; Matthew 1: 18-24

The short reflection is taken from the Gospel reading: “The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. 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’."  (Matthew 1: 20-21)

In facing life’s challenges, we are, often, afraid.  The message to us is similar to Joseph… ‘DO NOT BE AFRAID’. Trust in God… He is with us!

I considered some of the awful things my parents and grandparents had seen in their lifetimes: two world wars, Nuclear Explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killer flu, polio and small fox. But they saw other things, too, better things: the end of two world wars, the polio vaccine, and the post War Reconstruction and the space travels.

I believe that my generation will see better things, too -- that we will witness the time when AIDS is cured and cancer is defeated; when the Middle East will find peace and Southern Philippines will find the peace formula. Ever since I was a little kid, whenever I've had a bad day, my mom would put his arm around me and promise me that "tomorrow will be a better day." I challenged my mother once, "How do you know that?" she said, "I just do." I believed him. My grandparents did, and so do I.

What the future holds for the next generation, when I hear them speak ‘tomorrow’. I, too, want to put my arm around them, and tell them what the Angel Gabriel told Joseph:  “DO NOT BE AFRAID” Trust in God… He is with us!  Don't worry, tomorrow will be a better day. This, I believe.

Bapa Jun Mercado, OM