All Sacred History Falls on one Name: Immanuel: 4th Sunday in Advent

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

4^thSunday in Advent

Connections in the Scripture is essential

·      Some of our readings at Mass can be different, sometimes challenging to find a connection, and sometimes the connection is spot on

·      Like today

The prophet Isaiah was writing the words of God to a king and we heard this in our first reading today:

·      “Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.”

Then we hear some of the first words in the Gospel according to Matthew

·      (Quick comment here, this is the same reading we will hear on Christmas Eve and could have the genealogy of Jesus Christ)

·      “All this took place to fulfill 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."

Both of these readings connect some powerful beliefs

·      God or an angel spoking to someone

·      The woman would be a virgin, aka, no spouse, no man

·      Both used the word Emmanuel, and in Matthews narrative, Emmanuel = God is with us

God is with us! God is with you! 

·      Now, imagine reading the whole Bible

o   It would probably be challenging as the books in the Scriptures are different with genres, generations, language, etc.

·      Now, back up in history and imagine those who lived and died almost two thousand years before Jesus and two thousand years after Jesus…how could we connect the verses around the Scriptures?

·      Well, brilliant theologian scriptural leaders help us do that, and I am ecstatic for our readings today

Emmanuel: God is with us

·      And God became a God-Man, as a baby in a manger 

·      And the whole “story” in the Scriptures take a totally different change: our Savior who will save us from our sins, destroy death and open the gates of heaven