It’s just possible that today’s gospel is challenging us to stop and look at the Herod that is potentially within each of us, writes Christian Brother Julian McDonald. “Do we think that we have to be always in control of ourselves and our lives and those with whom we live and work? Are we afraid of the child within us, of accepting our weaknesses and vulnerabilities? Have we hardened ourselves to block out gentleness and tears? The magi in today’s gospel reading are symbols of those, who have the noble aspiration of going in search of truth and wisdom. Paradoxically, they found it in a child ushered into the world in the humblest of circumstances. They bypassed the one who craved attention, and that infuriated him to murder children indiscriminately.”

At Christmas, there are four different gospel readings. At the vigil Mass, we hear from Matthew, at the midnight and dawn Masses, from Luke, while the daytime Mass gives us a reading from John. Together, they give us a kaleidoscope view of the events surrounding the birth of Jesus and their significance for us and our world. They are an invitation to us to do as Mary did, namely to ponder the implications of God’s becoming one with us in the person of Jesus. I suggest that we respond most effectively to this invitation not through theological exploration but rather through reflecting on what happens in our life and in the lives of others when we encounter God in the events and experiences of everyday life.

As we move closer to Christmas, we are invited to reflect on today’s gospel invitation to each of us to embrace the role of Joseph by welcoming Jesus into our lives in order to bring him to everyone we encounter. Without our “yes”, God’s hands are tied, writes Christian Brother Julian McDonald.

Both Mary and Joseph set aside fear, self-interest and reputation to claim a child whom their world would have regarded as unwanted, in order to usher into the world ‘God-with-us’. And isn’t that our role as Christians - to bring Jesus to birth in our small part of the world by reaching out in the midst of criticism and insult to those who are forgotten, deliberately overlooked and discarded for no other reason than our belief is that God is with us and in them, too, writes Christian Brother Julian McDonald.

To be a prophet is to witness with courage and credibility that God is very much alive and active in our lives and in our world, that God is present in our places of work, in our homes, in our parish communities, in our neighbourhoods and in our places of rest, relaxation and entertainment. A prophet’s success is not measured by the numbers who come as disciples or by the applause of the audience, but in our fidelity to doing what we know is right, by the passion we have for justice, and by our readiness to speak the truth, irrespective of who our audience happens to be, writes Christian Brother Julian McDonald.