Fourth Sunday of Advent – Cycle A
Reflecting on Matthew 1: 18-24
It’s Advent in Cycle A. That’s Matthew’s cycle, which means we’re going to read a lot about St. Joseph. Matthew loves St. Joseph — don’t we all? —and gives us many stories about him that, if not for him, would never have been recorded.
It’s only Matthew who knows that when Joseph first heard of Mary’s pregnancy, he was thinking about divorcing her quietly (1:19). Do you remember the story from John’s gospel about the woman caught in adultery (8:1-11)? That would have been Mary’s fate, the self-righteous mob grabbing their stones to murder her.
But St. Joseph decided to divorce her quietly. My great friend Father Pat Dolan asks if that was what Jesus was remembering when he set free the poor woman caught in adultery. Did Joseph and Mary tell Jesus the story of his miraculous conception as he was growing up? Was he simply displaying the mercy he learned from them?
Here’s what Matthew records Jesus saying, over and over: I desire mercy, not sacrifice (9:13). Right off the bat, in Matthew’s first chapter, St. Joseph teaches us the meaning of mercy when he decides not to expose his betrothed to public disgrace.
Do you remember that great dreamer from the book of Genesis whose name was also Joseph? When he was locked up in Pharaoh’s dungeon, the Lord showed him mercy (39:21). And it was through that mercy that he was put in a position to save the world from famine.
The two Josephs, separated by 1,600 years, show us the meaning of the word “mercy.” This Advent, let somebody off the hook. Mercy can save the world once again.
What mercy will you show to someone this season?
Kathy McGovern ©2025