4th SUNDAY OF ADVENT - YEAR A
22nd December 2007

D Good morning. Today we keep the fourth Sunday of Advent and yes, Christmas day is not too far away. So it’s time for the final preparations during the week ahead.

B: You only have to look around our towns to see how busy people are preparing for next weekend. The lights are on, the decorations are up and the final presents are being bought. For most of us this is a time of joy and parties but the real meaning of Christmas comes from our Word of Life for today which comes from St. Matthews Gospel “They will call him Emmanuel – a name which means God is with us”.

D And that is what Christmas is all about – God is with us. And this expresses itself in various ways. Christmas is a time for remembering – maybe a person who helped us out during the year deserves more than just a Christmas card. It’s time to say ‘thank you’ to people who are special to us and ‘I love you to others’. There are various ways in which the Christmas spirit will express itself over this season and hopefully it will be in a safe and caring way. So then, let Christmas be a time of gratitude and celebration of all that is good in our lives. God’s gift to us is his Son, Jesus – and the story of his life provides an example to all of us of how to live a truly Christian life.

B: It’s important to keep Jesus central in our Christmas celebration and our reflection this morning is called Mary’s dream.

I had a dream, Joseph: I don’t understand it,
but I think it was about a birthday celebration for our son.
The people in my dream had been preparing for about 6 weeks.
They had decorated the house and bought new clothes.
They’d gone shopping many times
and bought many elaborate gifts.

It was peculiar, though, because the presents weren’t for our son.
They wrapped them in beautiful paper
and stacked them under a tree.
That’s right Joseph, a tree, right inside their homes!
They’d decorated the tree with sparkling ornaments.
There was a figure like an angel on top of the tree.

Everyone was laughing and happy.
They gave the gifts to each other, Joseph,
not to our son. I don’t think they even knew him.
They never mentioned his name.
I had the strangest feeling that, if our son Jesus
had gone to this celebration, he would have been intruding.
How sad for someone not to be wanted at his own birthday party!

I’m glad it was only a dream.
Imagine how awful Joseph, if it had been real.

D You’ve been listening to ‘Just a thought’ with David Bracken

B: And Brenda Cribbin. We would like to wish you all a very happy and peaceful Christmas.
If you would like your own copy of this reflection, you can download if from www.limerickdiocese.org.
D We look forward to your company again next week, so in the mean time, take are

B&D (Happy Christmas) Byeee……

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