Dear Esteemed brothers and sisters in Christ,

This Sunday, we celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord, one of the four feasts surrounding the nativity of Jesus. The other three are the Feast of the Holy Family of Nazareth, the Feast of Mary, Mother of God, and the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.

As you may know, the Gospels were not written with the intent of teaching history but rather to teach faith lessons using stories. And that's particularly true of this week's Gospel reading from Matthew. Matthew gives us a look at St. Joseph that's a little different from what many have come to think about Joseph.

From the other gospels, we know much more about Mary, Elizabeth, Mary Magdalene, Peter and many of the apostles. But it's Matthew who gives us insights into the character of the man, Joseph. For many years, it was thought that Matthew's focus on the men in Jesus' life, with very little on the women, reflected the chauvinistic bent of his heritage.

My dearly beloved in Christ,

As we anticipate the celebration of Christmas in a few days, the first reading from the prophet Isaiah recounts the famous prophecy of the Virgin birth. The prophecy also contained a Divine promise to send a savior in the lineage of David whose name shall be Emmanuel.

According to John Bergsma in his book, The Word of The Lord, 'The name, in Hebrew literature, is frequently not the term by which someone will actually be referred to in conversation. In Hebrew, the name is usually a way of referring to the essence, meaning, or description of someone or something. So, when Isaiah says, 'They shall name him Emmanuel,' it means 'His essence shall be Godis-with-us."

"Are you the one who is to come, or should we wait for another?" (Matthew 11:3)

Today is known as "Gaudete" Sunday, and the Mass begins with the opening antiphon, "Gaudete in Domino semper" ("Rejoice in the Lord always"). Correspondingly, the entire Liturgy invites us to rejoice; we also light the rose candle of the Advent wreath, and the priest wears rose vestments-all to express our communal joy in the coming of Jesus as our Savior.

It is the second Sunday of Advent, a time for us to prepare for the coming of our Lord and Savior. As I mentioned last Sunday, the first two weeks of the Advent season focus on the second coming of Christ, often referred to as eschatology, for which we do not know the specific day or hour. This emphasizes the importance of preparing the way for the Lord.