On the threshold of Christmas, Friar Luciano Audisio invites us to contemplate the birth of Jesus from a discreet and profound perspective: that of Saint Joseph. In his silence, his fear, and his trusting obedience, we discover how God acts without imposing, and how faith is born when we learn to welcome.
We approach the threshold of Christmas
We are approaching the threshold of Christmas, and Advent is reaching its culmination. It is not just about counting the days that remain, but about allowing this time to educate the heart to recognize a decisive truth: God is already acting in our lives.
The incarnation is not a pious memory of the past; it is a permanent movement by which Christ wants to take flesh in our concrete history, in our decisions, in our fears and hopes.
Looking at the birth of Jesus from Joseph’s perspective
Today’s Gospel invites us to contemplate the birth of Jesus from a particular perspective: that of Joseph. Matthew, a true pedagogue of faith, compels us to change the angle of our gaze. We are accustomed, with good reason, to focusing on Mary. But today the Spirit asks us to listen to the mystery from the silence of this righteous man.
And the question is inevitable: what happens when the birth of Jesus is viewed through the eyes of Joseph?
“The generation of Jesus Christ was like this”
The account begins with a solemn phrase: “The generation of Jesus Christ was like this.” Matthew pauses, as if to warn us that we are entering
The first thing presented to us is an absolutely unique birth: Jesus is conceived by the work of the Holy Spirit.
A God who acts without violence
This fact is not only intended to provoke astonishment. The Christian faith rests on two great pillars:
When God works, He does not do so apart from human hopes. He does not burst in, violating the desires of the heart, but rather bringing them to their fullness.
In pagan myths, the divinity imposes itself and wounds. In Mary, however, everything is different. The conception occurs by the work of the Holy Spirit:
The God who opens paths where everything seems closed
This account is linked to the biblical tradition of impossible births: Sarah, Rebecca, Hannah. Barren women from whom God brings forth life. Israel thus learned that fecundity is not a human achievement, but a gift, and that God opens paths where everything seems closed.
Joseph before fear and discernment
In the midst of this mystery is Joseph. And Joseph is afraid. An understandable fear. He is betrothed to Mary and discovers that she is pregnant. Bewilderment and fear prevail.
That is why Joseph needs time, silence, and discernment. It is at night—that space where securities collapse—when he opens himself to listening. In the dream, when he stops controlling, he receives the word of God.
Only in that profound silence, where we let go of our certainties, can the voice that transforms our gaze be heard.
“Do not be afraid”: welcoming what God is doing
The angel tells him: “Do not be afraid.” And he asks him for something decisive:
Faith begins when we agree to trust.
Jesus, Emmanuel: God with us
“You shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Jesus,
Matthew adds: “He will be called Emmanuel: God with us.” This is the definitive good news: not a distant God, not a God who dominates, but a God who dwells with us.
Welcoming Jesus on the Fourth Sunday of Advent
On this Fourth Sunday of Advent, Joseph teaches us the way. To welcome Jesus is to welcome God Himself into our history. It is allowing His presence to illuminate fears, transform decisions, and bring forth something new where we believed it was no longer possible.
May we, like Joseph, find the silence necessary to listen. And may we, without fear, know how to receive the Emmanuel, the God who comes—and who already is—with us.
