The Virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call Him Emmanuel, a name which means ‘God is with us’.
In the final week of Advent the Church naturally focuses on the figure of the Mother. But every third year, the Church bowls us a bit of googly when the Sunday Gospel isn’t primarily about Our Lady. It concerns Joseph. Unlike Luke, Matthew describes the birth of Jesus and the events leading up to it from Joseph’s perspective.
And that’s fine. Our Lady doesn’t mind. After all, excepting only Our Lord, Joseph was the most precious person in her life. And we need this male perspective. Joseph shows us the importance of a father figure – biological fathers, and also adoptive fathers and all those who fulfil the role of a male mentor in the life of a child.
