FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT

Joseph, The Man of Integrity

First Reading (Is 7:10-14) : A virgin shall conceive and bear a son
Second Reading (Rm 1:1-7 ) : Jesus Christ is the Son of God, descendent of David
Gospel (Mt 1:18-24) : The virgin shall conceive and bear a son.
Joseph understands God's will
Chinese Classics
The Master said, “When you know a thing, to hold that you know it, and when you do not know a thing, admit that you do not know it, - this is true knowledge.” (1)

The teaching in today's Scripture is from a very special story told by the Prophet Isaiah. The story is about a Jewish king called Ahaz. The king had absolutely no faith in God. Once God said to him, ‘Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.’(Ref Is 7:10-12)

“Not to put the Lord to the test” was a very impressive excuse. It would seem that Ahaz was saying one need only to trust in God and need not ask God for a miracle as proof. But actually he had no faith in God. He was afraid that if God showed him a sign he must believe in God. For him, to believe in God would be very distressing.

Because to believe in God one must change one's life and make sacrifices so it was better not to believe and ignore the sign.

We are the same. We do not want to believe in God, nor other people, nor even ourselves. Actually if we open our eyes and look carefully at Nature, look at the moon and the stars, the mountains and streams, the flowers and the birds, insects and fish – all the beauty of creation -. we will for certain see God.

I remember once I was with a group of young people by the seaside in a park in Taiwan. We were lying relaxed on the rocks on the beach, enjoying the beauty of nature and just chatting with each other. We watched the view of the sunset to the rising of the moon, and the murky hue of evening to the silvery Milky Way. We were admiring the scene and talking, enjoying it all immensely. In the midst of the quiet and beauty, one of the group suddenly said, “ Father, why are there still people who do not believe in God?”

That was a good question! If only we would open our minds and look at Nature closely, we could not but feel the greatness of God. Somehow, we do not want to look or take the time or space to look.

Scripture says, ‘The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.’ (Ps 19:2) . In the letter to the Romans Paul also said, “Ever since the creation of the world, they have been understood and seen through the things he has made’ (Ref Rom 1:20)

But we still choose to close our eyes. We refuse to see that our parents' good health is a gift from God, friendship and affection are given us by God. We do not wish to admit that peoples' repentance or the sudden heroism of a selfish person are miracles of God. We even refuse to acknowledge that under God's guidance we ourselves have performed some good deeds in the past.

In fact we realize with some surprise that we have accomplished many good things. On the contrary, we seem to remember only our failures and weaknesses.

“I do not wish to plead, I do not want to test God” is our excuse. The reason is: I do not want to see what great things God has done in me with His never-ending grace. I do not want to see the beauty of the world nor acknowledge that I myself am full of life and energy. The reason is if I acknowledge all this I must respond to God and live a new life in God. Such a response is frightening for me, I really am too weary for that.

Today's Scripture is enlightening in another aspect. It is the story about Joseph. Scripture says that Joseph was a man of integrity. After he knew that Mary, his espoused wife, was pregnant, he did not want to accuse her publicly. He planned to break the marriage contract and put her away quietly.

Joseph had to face a very big difficulty. His fiancee suddenly was somehow pregnant without his knowledge. Based on the law of the time, he had the right to accuse Mary and allow her to be stoned to death. He did not know what had happened and did not understand it. He chose to send her away quietly. (Rf Mt 1:18-24).

He knew that he did not understand. He did not speculate, even less did he want to judge Mary.

Confucius said, “When you know a thing, to hold that you know it, and when you do not know a thing, admit that you do not know it, - this is true knowledge.”(1) This should be the moral stance of an intellectual. It is also a principle we should follow when dealing with people.

Many people attempt to guess other peoples' intentions when they know nothing about it. They do not have any evidence. They speculate and make guesses, fabricating evidence. “When you know a thing, to hold that you know it” is all right. But some people would willingly say that they know something when they do not. That kind of person lacks the open-mindedness of Confucius or the upright conduct of Joseph.

Joseph is called a man of integrity. His actions indeed showed his righteousness. When he was unable to understand he submitted all his doubts to God.

Later, when all the truth was revealed he acted courageously. He knew that Mary was conceived by the Holy Spirit and he accordingly married her at once. It was beyond his understanding what it meant to be “conceived of the Holy Spirit”, still he believed the angel. He believed the Scripture, ‘A virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel’,which means, ‘God is with us.’ He believed that what was written in the Scriptures was realized in his home and in Mary, his betrothed.

At this time of Advent, let us have faith in God. Let us pray to God to help us to believe in Him, to believe in other people and to believe in ourselves.

(1)知之為知之，不知為不知，是知也。