4th Sunday of Advent (21/12/2025): Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord, your grace into our hearts, that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ your Son was made known by the message of an Angel, may by his Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of his Resurrection. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

Commentary on the Mass Readings for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Cycle A:
The First Reading is taken from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah 7:10-14. In today’s prophecy, Isaiah gives us the most important detail concerning the Messiah, Christ. He was to be God as well as man. This is what Christ was, as he claimed and as he proved by his miracles and by his resurrection. What a stunning, and at the same time, what an inspiring fact this knowledge is for us! We call the Incarnation, the coming of the Son of God among us in human nature, a mystery. It is one of the basic mysteries of our Christian religion, but the mystery lies not so much in how it was done (“with God all things are possible”), but rather in the infinite, mysterious love of God for us, who are so much below him and so unworthy of his love.

The Second Reading is taken from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans 1:1-7. In today’s reading, we have the opening verses of that Epistles. In it, he calls himself a servant of Christ, an Apostle, set apart (chosen) to preach the gospel of God. This gospel is the news of the Incarnation, through which and by which, all men are called to follow Christ, and become his brothers, and thus sons of God destined to be saints in heaven.

The Gospel of this Sunday, from the Gospel of Matthew 1:18-24 begins in a typical Hebrew fashion, by giving the genealogical table of Jesus, who was born of Mary. He does not mention the Annunciation, nor Mary’s problem of preserving virginity while becoming a mother. But the revelation given to Joseph, Mary’s betrothed, which Matthew here describes, brings out the fact of the virginal conception of Jesus, and his messianic mission of salvation. Matthew then adds that Christ was the Messiah, to be born of a virgin, of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke, seven centuries later.

This is the last Sunday of our preparation for Christmas, the anniversary of Christ’s birth. Like Joseph, we can all feel unworthy of the honor of welcoming him into our hearts and our homes. We are indeed unworthy, not because we have little of this world’s goods, but because we have so little humility, so little charity, so little faith and trust in God’s goodness. Let us try to imitate Joseph and Mary, the humblest of the humble, the kindliest of the kindly, and the greatest-ever believers in God’s goodness and mercy. We can never hope to equal them, but we can follow them humbly, from afar.

The feast of Christmas should draw the hearts of every child of God towards the furnace of divine love. In the manger, the infinite love of God for us miserable sinners is dramatically and forcefully portrayed before our eyes. In that helpless Baby, represented by a statue, we know that the person, and the power, of the omnipotent Creator and sustainer of the universe lie hidden “He emptied himself, taking the form of a slave” for us. He became a creature, like ourselves, so that he would make us sharers in his divine nature. He came on earth to bring us to heaven. He hid his divine nature so that he could cover us with it.

“Unsearchable indeed are the judgements of God, and inscrutable his ways.” But though we are unworthy of his infinite love, it nevertheless stands out as clear as the noonday sun in the Incarnation. We realise that we can never make ourselves worthy of this infinite love, but let us imitate Joseph and accept the honor which God is giving us, as we trust that he will continue to make us daily less unworthy.

Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O’Sullivan, O.F.M.