Jeremiah 23 : 5-8
Matthew 1 : 18-24
The gospel according to Matthew begins with the coming of the Emmanuel.
In the last chapter of the gospel, Jesus, the Emmanuel, the "God-is-with-us" tell His disciples that He will be with them until the end of time.
Hence the gospel of Matthew has this underlying theme - that Jesus is the fulfillment of God's promise to come and live among His people.
This is also the underlying theme in this particular period of our Advent preparation.
God's promise to us still holds true, that His is with us and will be with us till the end of time.
The modern world is going through a great secularization, to the extent that God and the Church has become irrelevant.
On the other hand, science and technology have taken the world by storm and pushing aggressively its advancement, and at times with all costs.
But science and technology cannot explain one thing, and that is the ecological problems that the world is facing, as well as the hostility amongst peoples.
It not only cannot explain, in a way, it amplifies and multiplies it.
When we reflect on the gospel, we see that it is the Spirit who brought about the coming of the Emmanuel.
It is the same Spirit who will bring about the presence of God in a broken and bleeding world.
Just as Mary and Joseph were open to the Spirit and became instruments in bringing about the presence of God into the world, we too must be open to the promptings of the Spirit within us.
We must first believe that God is indeed with us, before we can help others to believe likewise.