DECEMBER 18 - Gospel (Mt 1:18-25) - THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

“She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Mt 1:21)

FIRST READING - Jer 23:5-8

A reading from the Book of Jeremiah

Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD,

when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David;

As king he shall reign and govern wisely,

he shall do what is just and right in the land.

In his days Judah shall be saved,

Israel shall dwell in security.

This is the name they give him:

"The LORD our justice."

Therefore, the days will come, says the LORD,

when they shall no longer say, "As the LORD lives,

who brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt";

but rather, "As the LORD lives,

who brought the descendants of the house of Israel

up from the land of the north"–

and from all the lands to which I banished them;

they shall again live on their own land.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY - Mt 1:18-25

From the Gospel according to Matthew

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.

When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,

but before they lived together,

she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.

Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,

yet unwilling to expose her to shame,

decided to divorce her quietly.

Such was his intention when, behold,

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."

All this took place to fulfill

what the Lord had said through the prophet:

Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,

and they shall name him Emmanuel,

which means "God is with us."

When Joseph awoke,

he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him

and took his wife into his home.

He had no relations with her until she bore a son,

and he named him Jesus.

DECEMBER 18 - Gospel (Mt 1:18-25)

THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

Dear People of God,

In today's Word of God, God tells about the origin of Jesus when He was born as a human being among mankind.

God tells us that: the coming of God to become a human being was foretold long ago, as the prophet Isaiah foretold to all peoples: "Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,

and they shall name him Emmanuel." This prophecy was fulfilled through the Virgin Mary, who is blessed because she obeyed God's command to conceive the Son of God to become a human being, under the mighty power of the Holy Spirit.

God came to earth and was born as a human being; but not through the flesh and blood of a man, but through the supreme power of God manifested in the womb of the Virgin Mary. The message of the angel to the Virgin Mary, expressed in the person of Mary, is a person who absolutely obeys the will of God.

Besides, today, God also teaches people about an example of absolute obedience to the will of God, which is Saint Joseph. Saint Joseph did not act on his own, but he obeyed the will of God, that is the example of a righteous person that God let people know in Saint Joseph. The saint cooperated with the Virgin Mary to nurture the Son of God to come to earth as a human, to bring salvation to all mankind; this is a very miraculous act of procreation that only God can do.

Because God turned everything from nothing into existence during the creation of heaven and earth, there is nothing in this world that God cannot do. The fact that God was born as a human and was in the womb of the Virgin Mary was due to the power of God, expressed in a human being chosen by God in His work of salvation, that is, Mary.

There is a wonderful love that God wishes to bestow upon humanity. This love was expressed in Jesus Christ, the Son of God who became human. He expressed His love through His own work and concrete actions. The purpose of coming to earth as a human was to share in the suffering, to share in the weakness of humans, except for sin. Because He is God, the One who rules over all things.

He came down to accompany, to love and to sympathize, to share the pain of humans, and to help humans escape from the captivity of Satan. This promise was fulfilled through the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah, and God remains among us to this day. God wants all of humanity:

to believe absolutely that the Son of God came down to become a human being in the womb of the Virgin Mary. This is true. He came down to become a human being like everyone else by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Always believe, trust absolutely in the love that God bestows upon all of humanity; and when you believe, live and follow God's commandments, that is, bring love, bring the Gospel of God to humanity, to all people who need God's love and mercy, like the image of Saint Paul, who was sent by God to preach the Gospel, to bring God to all people.

Today, God wants all of humanity to open their hearts to welcome the Son of God into their souls, so that from there they can know how to live lovingly, to live the things that God has taught; and then we continue to bring that love to share, to give to others according to God's will, because the joy and love when given will increase and will please God the most.

God wants humanity today: to be more awake; to walk on the path of love, the path of God's light; to eliminate hatred, jealousy, selfishness, to be worthy to receive God's love and His light down on each soul, and from there Satan will no longer have the opportunity to snatch our souls out of God's loving arms.

Thanks be to God. Amen.