CUARTO DOMINGO DE ADVIENTO 2025

Queridos hermanos y hermanas: la celebración del nacimiento de Jesús está muy cerca, por eso nuestros corazones se llenan de alegría. En Navidad conmemoramos el gran acontecimiento que cambió el curso de la historia de la humanidad: el nacimiento de Nuestro Señor Jesucristo, el Hijo de Dios Padre. Este es el mayor regalo que Dios Padre quiso hacernos: Enviar a su único Hijo al mundo para salvarnos. Del mismo modo que Dios nos dio lo mejor de sí mismo, también nosotros estamos invitados a compartir lo mejor de nosotros mismos con Dios y con nuestros hermanos y hermanas. Permítanme hacerles algunas preguntas. ¿Ustedes comparten lo mejor que tienen con otras personas? ¿Han tenido alguna vez en una situación en la que no sabían qué hacer y la mejor solución que encontraban era salir corriendo? ¿Han encontrado en la oración y la meditación ayuda para resolver sus problemas? ¿Creen que en momentos de oscuridad la fe en Dios puede iluminar sus vidas?

Queridos hermanos y hermanas: el tema principal de este domingo tiene que ver con la manera en que Dios Padre cumple su promesa de enviar a su Hijo, el Redentor, a nuestro mundo. Como recuerda Pablo a los romanos, su evangelio trata sobre Jesús, cuyo nombre significa «Salvador», a quien Dios «prometió anteriormente a través de sus profetas en las Sagradas Escrituras...». Él es descendiente del rey David según la carne, pero fue establecido como el verdadero Hijo de Dios con poder según el Espíritu Santo. La primera lectura y el Evangelio de hoy nos presentan a dos personas que, en situaciones difíciles, tuvieron que recurrir a los emisarios de Dios para tomar decisiones importantes. Se trata del rey Acaz y de José. El primero enfrentaba una amenaza contra la nación de Israel y quería buscar algún aliado que le ayudara a recuperar la confianza y la paz para evitar que su nación fuera derrotada en la batalla y destruida por el imperio asirio. En este contexto, aparece el profeta Isaías para invitar al rey a confiar solo en Dios y pedir una señal que le hiciera comprender que Él estaba a su lado. El rey rechazó la invitación. Sin embargo, Dios le daría una señal: una virgin embarazada daría a luz a un hijo al que llamarían Emmanuel, que significa «Dios con nosotros». ¿Cuánto tiempo crees que tardó en cumplirse esa profecía?

Esta promesa se cumplió en el Nuevo Testamento, unos 700 años después. El Evangelio según san Mateo nos relata que José estaba comprometido con María cuando ella quedó embarazada por obra y gracia del Espíritu Santo. José decidió entonces divorciarse de ella en silencio. En ese momento de confusión, para ayudarle a tomar la decisión correcta, Dios le envió un ángel en sueños para explicarle lo que estaba pasando con María y cuál era la misión que Dios Padre tenía para él. El Evangelio nos informa de que José hizo todo lo que el Señor le había dicho que hiciera.

Queridos hermanos y hermanas, todos hemos pasado por situaciones difíciles y desesperadas que desafían nuestra capacidad de comprensión y para las que no encontramos solución. Estos dos personajes nos recuerdan que nunca estamos solos y que nuestro Dios amoroso se preocupa por nosotros y nos envía mensajeros que nos consuelan, nos ayudan a comprender lo que sucede y nos permiten tomar decisiones importantes que se ajustan a su voluntad. Por tanto, si estás pasando por alguna situación difícil, no olvides que Dios está a tu lado y envía a sus mensajeros para que te precedan e iluminen tu camino. No olvides rezar y buscar al Señor. Él siempre cumple sus promesas

Queridos hermanos y hermanas: dado que el Padre nos ha dado su regalo más preciado, aprovechemos esta oportunidad para devolverle nuestro amor a Él y a nuestros hermanos. Pidamos a Jesús que nos dé la capacidad de reconocer su presencia en las personas que nacen en la pobreza y la necesidad, y en quienes no tienen hogar ni qué comer. Oremos por la protección de quienes emigran en busca de una vida mejor y ayudemos a quienes nos rodean y necesitan nuestra atención y cuidado.

Aprovechemos este tiempo de Navidad para estar presentes con quienes están lejos, con quienes están solos e indefensos y con quienes nos echan de menos y desean acercarse a nosotros. Compartamos con todos amor, paciencia, paz, comprensión, dulzura, fidelidad, diálogo, tiempo, atención y perdón. Aprendamos hoy de san José, que no solo escuchó la Palabra de Dios, sino que la puso en práctica. Amén. Les deseo una feliz Navidad a todos ustedes.

P. Luis Segura M.S.C.

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FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT 2025

Dear brothers and sisters: the celebration of Jesus' birth is very near, and so our hearts are filled with joy. At Christmas, we commemorate the great event that changed the course of human history: the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God the Father. This is the greatest gift that God the Father wanted to give us: to send his only Son into the world to save us. Just as God gave us the best of himself, we too are invited to share the best of ourselves with God and with our brothers and sisters. Allow me to ask you a few questions. Do you share the best you have with other people? Have you ever been in a situation where you didn't know what to do, and the best solution you could find was to run away? Have you found help in prayer and meditation to solve your problems? Do you believe that in moments of darkness, faith in God can illuminate your lives?

Dear brothers and sisters, the main theme of this Sunday concerns the way God the Father fulfills his promise to send his Son, the Redeemer, into our world. As Paul reminds the Romans, his Gospel is about Jesus, whose name means "Savior," whom God "promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures..." He is a descendant of King David according to the flesh, but was established as the true Son of God with power according to the Holy Spirit. The first reading and today's Gospel present us with two people who, in difficult situations, had to turn to God's messengers to make important decisions. These are King Ahaz and Joseph. The former faced a threat against the nation of Israel and wanted to find an ally to help him regain confidence and peace to prevent his nation from being defeated in battle and destroyed by the Assyrian empire. In this context, the prophet Isaiah appears to invite the king to trust only in God and to ask for a sign that would make him understand that God was on his side. The king rejected the invitation. However, God would give him a sign: a virgin would conceive and give birth to a son whom they would call Emmanuel, which means "God with us." How long do you think it took for that prophecy to be fulfilled?

This promise was fulfilled in the New Testament, about 700 years later. The Gospel according to Matthew tells us that Joseph was betrothed to Mary when she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph then decided to divorce her quietly. In that moment of confusion, to help him make the right decision, God sent an angel to him in a dream to explain what was happening with Mary and what mission God the Father had for him. The Gospel informs us that Joseph did everything the Lord had told him to do.

Dear brothers and sisters, we have all gone through difficult and desperate situations that challenge our understanding and for which we find no solution. These two figures remind us that we are never alone and that our loving God cares for us and sends us messengers who comfort us, help us understand what is happening, and enable us to make important decisions that align with His will. Therefore, if you are going through a difficult situation, remember that God is by your side and sends His messengers to go before you and illuminate your path. Do not forget to pray and seek the Lord. He always keeps His promises.

Dear brothers and sisters, since the Father has given us his most precious gift, let us take this opportunity to return our love to Him and to our brothers and sisters. Let us ask Jesus to give us the ability to recognize his presence in those who are born into poverty and need, and in those who are homeless and hungry. Let us pray for the protection of those who migrate in search of a better life and let us help those around us who need our attention and care.

Let us take advantage of this Christmas season to be present with those who are far away, with those who are alone and vulnerable, and with those who miss us and long to be closer to us. Let us share with everyone love, patience, peace, understanding, gentleness, faithfulness, dialogue, time, attention, and forgiveness. Let us learn today from Saint Joseph, who not only listened to the Word of God but also put it into practice. Amen. I wish you all a Merry Christmas.

Fr. Luis Segura M.S.C.

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God Transforming Crises into Dreams…

Today, the fourth and final Sunday of Advent, the liturgy presents the figure of Saint Joseph to us (cf. Mt 1:18-24). He is a just man who is about to get married. We can imagine what his dreams for the future are — a beautiful family, with an affectionate wife and many wonderful children, and a dignified job — simple and good dreams, the dreams of simple and good people. Suddenly however, these dreams shatter against a disconcerting discovery. Mary, his betrothed, is expecting a child, and the child is not his! What would Joseph have felt? Shock, pain, confusion, perhaps even irritation and disappointment…. He experienced his world was falling apart all around him! And what could he do?

The Law gives him two options. The first is to accuse Mary and make her pay the price for her alleged infidelity. The second is to secretly annul their engagement without exposing Mary to scandal and to harsh consequences, taking upon himself, however, the burden of shame. So, Joseph chooses this second option, the way of mercy. And behold, at the height of his crisis, right when he is thinking and evaluating all this, God lights a new light in his heart — he declares to him in a dream that Mary’s motherhood did not come about because of a betrayal, but was the work of the Holy Spirit, and that the baby to be born will be the Savior (cf. vv. 20-21). Mary will be the Mother of the Messiah, and he will be His guardian. On waking up, Joseph understands that the greatest dream of every devout Israelite — to be the father of the Messiah — is being fulfilled for him in a completely unexpected way.

Indeed, in order to fulfil this, it would not be enough to belong to David’s lineage and be a faithful observer of the law, but he will have to entrust himself above and beyond all else to God, welcome Mary and her son in a completely different way than he had expected, different from the way things had always been done. In other words, Joseph will have to renounce all reassuring certainties, his perfect plans, his legitimate expectations, and open himself to a future that was completely to be discovered. And before God, who disrupts his plans and asks that he trust Him, Joseph says “yes”. Joseph’s courage is heroic and is exercised in silence — his courage is to trust, he welcomes, he is willing, he asks for no further guarantees.

We too have our dreams, and perhaps we think of them more, we talk about them together at Christmas. Perhaps we long for some dreams that were shattered and we see that our best

expectations have to face with the unexpected, disconcerting situations. And when this happens, Joseph shows us the way. We should not give in to negative feelings, like anger or isolation — this is the wrong way! Instead, we have to attentively welcome surprises, life’s surprises, even the crises. When we find ourselves in crisis, we should not make decisions quickly and instinctively, but rather sift through them like Joseph did, who “considered everything” (cf. v. 20), and base ourselves on the underlying criterium: God’s mercy. When one experiences a crisis without giving in to isolation, anger, and fear, but keeping the door open to God, He can intervene. He is an expert in transforming crises into dreams — yes, God opens crises into new horizons we never would have imagined before, perhaps not as we would expect, but in the way he knows how. And these, brothers and sisters, are God’s horizons — surprising — but infinitely broader and more beautiful than ours!

May the Virgin Mary help us live open to God’s surprises. [Synthesized from Pope Francis, Angelus, 18 XII 22]

Rev. Jos Rajesh Peter M.S.C.

4th Sunday of Advent – A – 2025

My friends, today’s Gospel has many aspects.  One of them is St. Joseph.  We don’t know much about Joseph because very little was written about him.  We know that he was a carpenter of craftsman quality who, although not destitute, was considered poor because of the inexpensive offering of two doves at the Presentation of Jesus.  We also know Joseph was a good man who protected and provided for Mary and Jesus. 

In our Gospel today, Matthew tells us that Joseph was a righteous man who, in a dream, listened to and obeyed the command of an angel of the Lord. 

I always wondered what would have happened if Joseph had said, “No” to the angel…  He could have.  Mary was his wife and she was pregnant – not by Joseph.  Prior to Joseph’s dream, he was planning to quietly divorce Mary, to whom he was betrothed.

Now, the marriage process or procedure back then may sound a little confusing to us but the details in today’s Gospel represent the normal Jewish marriage procedure, of which there were three steps:

Step 1:

The engagement.  The engagement was often made when the bride and groom were only children.  It was usually made through the parents, or through a professional match-maker.  And it was often made without the couple involved ever having seen each other.  The thinking was that marriage was far too serious to be left to the dictates of the human heart.

Step 2:

The betrothal.  This was the ratification of the engagement.  Up until this point, the engagement could be broken. But once the betrothal was entered into, it was absolutely binding. The betrothal lasted for one year.  During that year, the couple was considered as man and wife, although they didn’t have the rights of man and wife.  Also – it could be terminated only by divorce.  This is stage that Joseph and Mary were at.  They were betrothed and if Joseph wished to end the betrothal, he could do so only by divorce because Mary was legally his wife.

Step 3:

The final stage was the marriage ritual, which occurred at the end of the year of betrothal.  So, what may sound confusing to our understanding of marriage – was perfectly normal and usual in Jewish wedding customs…

So, here we are – Mary and Joseph were in their year of betrothal.  Mary was his legal wife and Joseph finds out that she’s pregnant – not by him.  AND – to make things even more confusing and difficult, Joseph hears that Mary is still a virgin……

My friends, even though much of today’s gospel is about the betrothal of Joseph and Mary, the important message Matthew is conveying is not so much that Jesus was born of a virgin.  What Matthew stresses in today’s Gospel is that the birth of Jesus is the work of the Holy Spirit.  It is mentioned twice, which is very significant:

• Verse 18  –  “Mary was found with child – through the Holy Spirit.”

• And Verse 20  –  “It is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her.”

The essence of Matthew's story about the birth of Jesus is that the Holy Spirit was present and working as never before in the history of the world.  Jesus, who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, is the one person who will bring God's truth to mankind. 

To put it another way:  Jesus is the one person who tells us what God is like.  In Jesus alone, we learn what God is like and how we ought to be.  Before Jesus, humanity had only vague and often quite incorrect ideas about God.

What a wonderful day it was when we first heard Jesus say, "Whoever who has seen me has seen the Father." (Jn.14:9). 

My friends, Jesus is the Spirit of the Living God – Incarnate – in the flesh.

“In the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God.”  (John 1:1)

He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him, nothing came to be.”  (John 1:2-3)