What is the implication of the Saviour’s birth?
When changes to the Eucharistic liturgy were made in 2011, there was an uproar with regard to the translations of certain parts of the Liturgy. The wordings for the consecration of the wine in the chalice were changed from “for all” to “for many”. The new translation seemed to have put a dampener on God’s salvific will. In simple terms, God’s salvation is rather miserly because the Church, by using “for many” has restricted God’s desire to save TO the multitude rather than TO everyone. Multitude is a lot but there were some who felt that a lot was not enough.
But the translation was correct. Salvation cannot be imposed. It can only be proposed. It means that God’s salvation is offered to all but man still has the freedom to reject it. Even though salvation is extended to all and sundry, it may not be universally or even automatically accepted by everyone. We have the freedom to accept or reject God’s invitation to share in the mystery of salvation. Therefore, from a scriptural point of view, “many” is more accurate as it describes the great, innumerable multitude but not every single individual who has ever lived.
It brings us to a central figure in the Gospel today, that is, Joseph. Even the 4th Sunday of Advent is traditionally understood to be dedicated to Mary, still, in Matthew’s Gospel Joseph features prominently. Described as a just man by the Evangelist, this man of honour saw no need to humiliate a maiden who had conceived outside of wedlock. Instead God appeared to Joseph and proposed to him the plan of salvation in which he would play an integral part. “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins”.
As the responsorial psalm suggests to let the King of glory enter, we still have the freedom to reject Him. On the one hand, we could have a God who seemingly forces Himself upon us, by violating our freedom to choose, simplyby “saving all”. Instead, this is the God of the “many or multitude” who, even though He desires all to be saved, still He awaits our cooperation. This universal desire to save all is God’s antecedent will which requires our cooperation.
God proposes many programmes for us because He desires to save. In fact, the history of salvation is basically a chronicle of God making new plans each time we broke the covenant we had made with Him. In the case of Joseph, even without complete knowledge, he trusted God and embraced His proposal and the rest is our definitive salvation.
Now, since we are preparing for Christmas, how has it been so far? If God intends to save us by entering into our lives, the question is, “Have we allowed Him to?”.
We have been given the same freedom as Joseph was. How are we exercising that freedom to choose? We are challenged to expand our freedom by choosing God rather than jealously guard our individual autonomy.
Today’s world is so narrowly individualistic that we no longer see the bigger picture. Perhaps the slew of dystopian series or movies is a reminder of how reduced our picture or how narrow our vision has become. Imagine the Walking Dead going from place to place avoiding the Undead but nobody seems to ask the question where some of these enclave sanctuaries get their electricity from. Electricity, the powerful lifeline that connects us is a reminder of how narrow our vision or how fragmented our connexion to reality has become. The truth of our interconnectedness often escapes us.
For Joseph, despite not having all the information at his finger tips, he is presented by God with a picture bigger than himself. He is going to be a father not just with any Baby but the Child to be born of a woman not of his bloodline. Instead this Child will be the Son of God, the Saviour of the world. This is a bigger plan and Joseph embraced that plan in its entirety.
Sweep away all the glitter and gold we might just appreciate what the heart of the preparation is. To be prepared or to prepare reminds me of a conversation with some youths on a matter called freedom. The mistaken notion that freedom is all about the choices before us misses the point that freedom is not choices available but rather an ability to choose.
When we have come to a forked road, we must choose one. The minute we have chosen one, the other option is already out of the question and it no longer a choice. It is the same with our Christmas preparation. It is a choice to enter into God’s world rather than forcing God to enter ours. We choose God’s will and not serve our own will. That is the heart of our preparation. That was what Joseph embraced when he took Mary to be his wife. Decorations are beautiful this time of the year and sometimes we might find ourselves with not enough room to house all the gold and glitter. But the true preparation is not for more room for decorations but rather that our hearts may have more space for the Child to be born. The Child in the manger is tiny and helpless but His enterprise is universal. He is inviting us to enter that space and to share His vision for the world.
