[00:00:05] Hello, my name is Sally Moriarty-Flask. Welcome to: From His Word to Our Hearts, my weekly Bible Study podcast. Together we will explore the readings to be proclaimed at the Catholic Mass on Sunday, December 21, 2025, the Fourth Sunday of Advent.
I will include a final photo of an Advent wreath on this week's Instagram post. Christmas is just around the corner, so let's hold onto the piece of Advent for these last few days while we still can.
[00:00:35] This week's episode is entitled: Dreams and Signs. And on this final Sunday of Advent, we hear that dreams and signs are precisely how God communicated with both Joseph and Ahaz. Joseph had tremendous faith in God; Ahaz had very little. That's quite a wide range… where would our faith fit within that spectrum?
As we journey through the readings this week, consider the following:
We are just days away from the arrival of the newborn Jesus on Christmas… an event which changed everything. And Saint Paul reminds us that we are all called to be holy, we are all called to belong to Christ, but in our troubled world, are we willing to do so?
[00:01:26] Let's begin in prayer:
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Heavenly Father, we praise you and we thank you for these remaining days of Advent, which offer us a final opportunity to prepare our hearts and minds for Christmas. Help us to be holy, as you are holy, and to welcome the Christ child with great joy. We ask this through him whose coming is certain, whose day draws near, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Now that we've opened our hearts in prayer, let's listen to what God is telling us in the Scriptures.
[00:02:01] Our Gospel this week is from Matthew 1: 18-24.
[00:02:07] “Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit; and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to send her away quietly. But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ‘Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emman’u-el’ (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife.”
[00:03:11] The Fourth and final Sunday of Advent always focuses - in some way - on the first coming of Jesus. Here in cycle A, we hear the story of one of Joseph's dreams; in cycle B, we hear the Annunciation from Luke; and in cycle C, we hear the Visitation also from Luke.
[00:03:32] All three of those Gospels shed light on some aspect of Jesus’ divinity, his divine nature. Matthew's Gospel begins with the genealogy of Jesus, which we hear on Christmas Eve, and that is followed immediately by the account of Joseph's first dream which we hear this week. And remember, Matthew's Gospel was written primarily for Jewish Christians, so dreams were very significant, especially the dreams experienced and interpreted by another man named Joseph… Joseph, the son of Jacob, whose story we hear in Genesis.
[00:04:13] So let's listen as Matthew recounts the dream of this Joseph…
[00:04:19] “Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.”
[00:04:23] And we have to remember that Christ is not Jesus' last name - it is his title. Christ is from the Greek word Christos, which means Messiah. And Matthew is repeating himself! He is reiterating the link between Jesus' name and his title with which he began his Gospel account of the genealogy of Jesus.
“When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph,”
[00:04:53] Too many times, we equate a biblical betrothal to something like a simple engagement in our modern world - they are NOT the same. A betrothal was not just two people agreeing to participate in a wedding ceremony at some point in the future, although that was part of it. A betrothal was a legally binding exchange of consent made before witnesses.
[00:05:20] Sometimes betrothals were made to cement relationships between families who were close friends, other times they formalized social, financial, or even political alliances.
[00:05:33] In any case, once a betrothal was negotiated and the ceremony had taken place, the two parties were considered to be legally married, and a divorce was required to break the betrothal.
[00:05:49] However, the couple would not cohabit for the period of at least one year. That time was intended to prevent hasty or ill-conceived marriages from taking place, but it also allowed adequate time for both parties to prepare - personally and financially. It allowed them the opportunity to accumulate everything needed to establish a household, and to plan and celebrate a wedding feast that could last for up to a week.
[00:06:26] So, for Mary and Joseph, during that year between the time they were betrothed but…
“before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit;”
[00:06:39] And we hear that in the account of the Annunciation in Luke 1 - “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you” - that is the same life-giving Spirit… that's the same life-giving spirit that hovered over the waters during creation.
[00:07:01] “and her husband Joseph, being a just man”
Meaning that he obeyed Jewish law.
“and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to send her away quietly.”
[00:07:14] Joseph found himself in quite a predicament. As mentioned previously, this took place during that time after the betrothal ceremony, but before the wedding ceremony. If Joseph had repudiated Mary during that time - if he had publicly set her aside - she would not just have been shamed, she could have been stoned to death for adultery.
[00:07:44] “But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream,”
[00:07:52] This is the first of four times that Joseph will encounter angels in dreams. And the angel says to him…
“Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife,”
[00:08:07] Meaning that he should not hesitate to enter into that second stage of marriage, where the wedding feast is celebrated and they set up their household.
“for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit;”
[00:08:22] The angel is assuring Joseph that there was no adultery; Mary's pregnancy is the result of the action of the Holy Spirit, not that of another human man.
[00:08:36] “she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
[00:08:44] It was typical in biblical times, for the father to publicly name a child because to name a child was to legally declare the child to be one's own, to be legitimate, with all the rights and privileges that accompany that legitimacy. By Joseph publicly declaring Jesus as his earthly son, Jesus then legally became part of the line of King David. Now, the name Jesus comes to us from the Aramaic name Yeshua, which means God saves - that is the basis for the angel's words to Joseph that Jesus will save his people from their sins.
[00:09:34] “All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:”
[00:09:39] That prophet was, of course, Isaiah.
“Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emman’u-el” (which means, God with us).”
[00:09:51] That is Isaiah 7, which we will also hear in our First Reading this week. Understand, there is some controversy about the word translated here as VIRGIN… the original Hebrew says: hā·’al·māh which can be translated as the young woman, the maiden, or the virgin - basically, the intent is to describe a young, morally pure female. The specific Hebrew word for a virgin is bə·ṯū·lāh. The Septuagint, the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, translated the original Hebrew as parthenos, which DOES mean virgin. In its original context in Isaiah, which we'll hear very soon, it doesn't really matter exactly how the word is translated, because any of those translation options are valid (in the context of Isaiah) and we'll see that when we read the entire passage.
[00:10:55] For Christians, the way that word is translated becomes much more important. For Scripture tells us that Mary WAS virginal and that her pregnancy was a result of the action of the Holy Spirit and the power of God… which is why the Hebrew word hā·’al·māh is translated as virgin in the New Testament.
[00:11:19] “When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife.”
[00:11:27] Joseph is the first person in Matthew's Gospel to obey God's commands… which affirms that he is a just and righteous man. And - as I said earlier - the dream we hear this week is the first of four dreams that Joseph will experience. We will hear the other three next week.
[00:11:53] For Christians, Joseph is the perfect example of a faith-filled response to God. The angel appears to him in a dream - and he obeys… he does what God wants him to do. Obeying God is much more difficult in our modern world. Angels don't typically appear to us in our dreams anymore. Our difficulty, then, is in being open to God, in accepting what God wants to give us, and understanding what God wants us to do.
[00:12:32] Saint Paul will tell us in our Second Reading this week, that we are called to belong to Jesus… Pope Paul VI wrote that we are all called to be holy, to be saints… but are we willing?
[00:12:49] That takes us to our First Reading, which is from Isaiah 7: 7, 10-14.
[00:12:56] “[T]he LORD spoke to Ahaz, ‘Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.’ But Ahaz said, ‘I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test.’ And [Isaiah] said, ‘Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Imman’u-el.”
[00:13:37] This passage is from 1st Isaiah (which is chapters 1 to 39), and if you remember, a couple of weeks ago I said that Isaiah was an advisor to two kings - Ahaz and Hezekiah. And clearly this takes place during Ahaz's time.
There was a lot of unrest in the region at the time, and King Ahaz was under considerable pressure to form an alliance AGAINST Assyria but was personally tempted to ask Assyria for assistance instead.
[00:14:17] Isaiah told Ahaz to do NOTHING - to take no action at all - and the crisis would pass. The birth that Isaiah foretells in this passage is a sign that God will protect the Southern Kingdom of Judah if Ahaz obeys God and does nothing. And looking at this Old Testament king, it's difficult for us not to compare him to another Old Testament king… Solomon.
[00:14:51] In 1 Kings, God tells Solomon to ask for whatever he wants. Solomon could have asked for anything, but, because he trusted God, he asked for wisdom. As a result, God gave him not only wisdom, but everything else as well.
[00:15:13] Ahaz, on the other hand, proves, through his deceitfulness, his false modesty, and his false piety that he doesn't trust God and he refuses to ask for a sign as Isaiah advises him to do.
[00:15:30] So, let's listen in and see what happens…
[00:15:34] “[T]he LORD spoke to Ahaz,”
And remember, Ahaz was a bad king.
[00:15:41] “Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”
[00:15:50] This was before the development of belief in individual life after death. At the time, Sheol was simply the realm of the dead (the place everyone went when they died) and heaven was the realm of God… so essentially, God is saying that Ahaz can ask for anything, which is the same offer he made to Solomon.
“But Ahaz said, ‘I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test.’”
[00:16:21] We can hear Ahaz's false piety in those words, can't we? And besides, Ahaz doesn't really want a sign from God which might end up being at odds with his own plans.
[00:16:34] “And [Isaiah] said, ‘Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also?’”
[00:16:44] And we can hear Isaiah's exasperation in his words!
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.”
[00:16:53] In other words, you didn't trust God enough to ask for a sign, but you're getting one anyway!
[00:16:59] “Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son,”
[00:17:03] Now, I went through an explanation of this translation when we encountered this quote in our Gospel. The RSV (the translation I used for this Bible study) translates the Hebrew here as a young woman… and - as I said when we were talking about the Gospel - it doesn't matter as much in this context, here in Isaiah, whether the Hebrew is translated as a virgin or a young woman, because Isaiah is talking about Ahaz's wife Abijah. And the son that she will bear will be Hezekiah, the next king. And Hezekiah WILL be a sign of hope for Judah's future.
“and shall call his name Imman’u-el.”
Immanuel can be translated as “God with us” or “God is with us.” That is significant for Hezekiah because kings were chosen by God to rule his people with his divine righteousness, it was a king's duty to dispense God's justice, and kings were expected to remain faithful to God's Covenant and obey his laws. So, when Isaiah says Immanuel - he most likely means GOD IS WITH US… that God will be with Hezekiah and the people.
[00:18:34] Christians believe that points to the Incarnation… that God became flesh - in the person of Jesus - and dwelt with his people. Jesus’ birth is just around the corner… and when he comes, will he find a level of faith that is more like Solomon's and Joseph's? Or more like Ahaz's? If we do all belong to Christ, if we are all adopted sons and daughters of God by virtue of our Baptism, we should all strive to be holy… but are we willing to put in the hard work to do so?
[00:19:15] That takes us to our Responsorial Psalm, which is Psalm 24, and the refrain is:
“May the Lord come in, he is the King of glory.”
And here are the verses:
[00:19:28] “The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein; for he has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the rivers.”
“Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false.”
“He will receive blessing from the LORD, and vindication from the God of his salvation. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.”
This Psalm is a Liturgical Hymn - it was probably part of an entrance liturgy for the temple in Jerusalem… the final verses of this Psalm, verses 7 to 10, seem to talk about a ritual procession, perhaps referring to the entry of the Ark of the Covenant into the city.
[00:20:30] The second stanza seems to echo Isaiah's rebuke of Ahaz for his false modesty and false piety because one who has clean hands is innocent of wrongdoing, a pure heart indicates a clean conscience, and not lifting one's soul up to what is false means not worshiping idols.
The blessing in the third stanza may refer to the sign promised to Ahaz through Isaiah, which we know was the birth of Hezekiah, who was a very good king.
[00:21:12] Christians, of course, see that blessing as Jesus. And we are just days away from his arrival… so are we willing to focus on having clean hands, a pure heart, and a faithful soul? Will we be ready?
[00:21:33] That leads us to our Second Reading, which is from Romans 1:1-7.
[00:21:41] “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ; To all God's beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
[00:22:39] We have heard from Romans for three out of four Sundays this Advent, interrupted only once by a passage from James last week.
[00:22:49] Romans is the first Epistle to appear in the New Testament canon after Acts, not because that is its chronological place, but because it is the longest of Paul's letters… and Paul's Epistles appear from longest to shortest. This passage is from the very beginning of Romans, which - as you may recall - is an Ambassadorial Letter Paul wrote to introduce himself to the Christian community in Rome. It is finally fitting to hear - after so many other forays into it - how Paul actually introduces himself. He begins by presenting his credentials, so to speak… he lists all the reasons he feels qualify him as a reputable authority for the Roman community.
[00:23:44] Before my retirement, one of my responsibilities at my parish was to train Lectors to proclaim Sacred Scripture at Mass. And as part of my presentation, I would always refer to Paul as the patron saint of the run-on sentence - he isn't, of course, there's no such thing - but this passage is one example of why I gave him that particular title because the entire thing is one very long sentence!
[00:24:16] And because it is one long sentence, it truly makes it a challenge for any Lector to proclaim it so that those who are listening can understand it. So, let's listen to what Paul has to say…
[00:24:29] “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,”
In biblical times, a servant was not considered to be a prisoner, but a servant was expected to be totally committed to his master. Paul is saying that he is totally committed to Jesus, and much like in our Gospel, the name Jesus and his title Christ (or Messiah) are linked together.
[00:24:58] “called to be an apostle,”
An Apostle is one who is sent on mission, certainly, but an Apostle is also a witness to the Resurrected Jesus. Paul is both…he encountered the Risen Jesus on the road to Damascus and was given the mission of the being the Apostle to the Gentiles… he was sent to proclaim the Good News to the Gentiles.
“set apart for the gospel of God”
[00:25:30] In case you don't have the text in front of you, when Paul uses the word gospel, it is the lowercase “g” gospel, meaning the good news of Jesus' life and his teachings, as well as his Passion, Death, and Resurrection. He's not talking about the capital “G” Gospels, the four books written by the Evangelists - those didn't exist as of yet!
“which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures,”
[00:26:01] And when Paul says holy scriptures - he means the Jewish Bible - what Christians call the Old Testament. The promises of those Old Testament prophets pointed to the coming of the Messiah and were fulfilled in Jesus. That is what Saint Augustine of Hippo (5th century theologian, philosopher, bishop, Patristic Father, and Doctor of the Church) meant when he wrote that the New Testament is hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is revealed in the New.
“the gospel concerning his Son,”
Again, that's lowercase “g” gospel, meaning the good news of Jesus.
“who was descended from David according to the flesh”
[00:26:54] I've talked about that a lot recently - being a descendant of David was crucial to the Jewish concept of the Messiah and, as we learned in our Gospel, Jesus was legally a descendant of David because Joseph claimed him as his earthly son.
“and designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead,”
[00:27:24] Notice Paul doesn't mention Crucifixion, only Resurrection. Many people were crucified… that's not what made Jesus unique in Paul's mind. Jesus' Resurrection is what set him apart, made him different, confirmed - for Paul - Jesus' divinity.
“Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship”
[00:27:58] The Christian community in Rome didn't witness the Resurrection, nor did they encounter the Risen Jesus, but they have faith, nonetheless.
“to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,”
[00:28:17] When Paul talks about ALL THE NATION - he means the Gentiles. Jews typically saw contact with Gentiles as something that made them ritually unclean. But Paul, who was himself a Jew, was called to preach the Good News to those very Gentiles!
“including yourselves, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ;”
[00:28:42] Just as Paul declared - at the beginning of this letter - that he was totally committed to Christ, the Christian community in Rome, comprised of both Jews and Gentiles, was called to commit themselves totally to Jesus. And remember in Galatians 2, Paul says: “it is no Longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” illustrating his total surrender to Jesus. Paul not only intended this message to apply to the Romans, he is saying the very same thing to us today - we are all called to belong to Christ!
“To all God's beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints:”
When Paul says “called to be saints” - he isn't trying to flatter the Romans or offer empty praise just to win over their support. By the words “called to be saints,” Paul means that they were called to be holy… that we are called to be holy.
And that's nothing new in the Church… Vatican II taught us about the Universal Call to Holiness in Lumen Gentium which says: “in the Church, everyone whether belonging to the hierarchy (meaning the clergy) or being cared for by it (meaning the laity) everyone is called to holiness.”
[00:30:16] It also says that Jesus “preached holiness of life to each and every one of his disciples,” that he sent the Holy Spirit so that we might “love God… and love each other,” and that we must “hold on to and complete in [our] lives this holiness [we] have received.”
[00:30:40] It has been over 50 years since the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council, and we're still trying to live those words effectively. Paul then finishes his greeting with the following words…
[00:30:56] “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
[00:31:02] The grace and peace Paul extends to the Romans here are gifts from God the Father and His Divine Son, Jesus. Gifts that none of us ever deserve, but which are given to us anyway… out of God's great love.
[00:31:19] Advent is almost over… Jesus will arrive in just a few days… his birth changed everything 2,000 years ago - but what about today?
In our contentious and divided society, where the rich and powerful ridicule people they don't like, where people of influence are willing to cheat to maintain their positions, where friends attack those who hold different opinions, are we willing to set aside all that animosity in order to cultivate the clean hands and pure hearts we should have to welcome Jesus?
[00:32:09] Paul reminds us that we are all called to BELONG to Jesus, we are all called to be saints; that's a lot to accomplish, and there are only a few days left in Advent… so, are we willing to accomplish the task that is before us? Are we willing to be holy?
[00:32:37] Are we willing to belong to Jesus?
[00:32:43] If you would like to reach out to me with questions or comments, send me an email at
[email protected]
Thank you for spending this time with me, and until next we meet, may God shower his blessings upon you like a soft and gentle rain, and may he hold you - safe and secure - in the palm of his hand.
From His Word to Our Hearts is produced by SFS Audio Solutions.
The content of the show was assembled by me, Sally Moriarty-Flask.
Our music was composed by Jimmy Flask and is used with the permission of the composer. All rights reserved.
Information regarding references used in preparing the exegesis of this podcast is available upon request.
Thank you for listening. May God bless you and may you have a very Merry Christmas!
