This week's readings December 23, 2001 Reading I: Is 7:10-14 Reading II: Rom 1:1-7 Gospel: Mt 1:18-24 December 24, 2001 Vigil Mass Reading I: Is 62:1-5 Reading II: Acts 13:16-17, 22-25 Gospel: Mt 1:1-25 or 18-25 December 25, 2001 Nativity of the Lord Mass during the day Reading I: Is 52:7-10 Reading II: Heb 1:1-6 Gospel: Jn 1:1-18 or 1:1-5, 9-14 December 26, 2001 Reading I: Acts 6, 8-10; 7, 54-59 Gospel: Mt 10, 17-22 December 27, 2001 Reading I: 1 Jn 1, 1-4 Gospel: Jn 20, 2-8 December 28, 2001 Reading I: 1 Jn 1, 5--2, 2 Gospel: Mt 2, 13-18 December 29, 2001 Reading I: 1 Jn 2, 3-11 Gospel: Lk 2, 22-35 Pope's Prayer Intentions December General Intention Escape from cultural conditioning that blinds us to the rights of others. That we Christians may escape the subtle cultural conditioning which stifles recognition of the dignity and rights of others. December Mission Intention Illumination of the cultures of Asia by Christian humanism with its Gospel values. That Christian humanism may illumine, through Gospel values, the cultures of Asia.

The Lord's sign:

Emmanuel, God-with-us

		Word of God  Word of Life  Fr. John G. Stillmank

From the very beginning, in the story of creation which we read in the Book of Genesis, human life began as a story of "God is with us." When the Lord created man and woman, Adam and Eve, he walked with them in the Garden of Eden. God and man were friends, and "God is with us" was what life in Eden, in Paradise, was about.

Then sin entered the world through man's disobedience, and with sin, death. We preferred not to have God walk with us. We preferred to go it alone, and so "God is with us" was not really what we wanted.

Readings for Fourth Sunday of Advent (Dec. 23) Isaiah 7:10-14 Psalm 24 Romans 1:1-7 Matthew 1:18-24

We found the going tough. Trying to decide for ourselves what should be "good" and "right" and what should be "bad" and "wrong" proved to be, to say the least, problematic. Life without "God is with us" was not good; it was hard, and death was a bitter burden.

Yet even though we turned our backs on him, God was still with us -- through his power sustaining all of creation, through his love for his sinful, wayward creatures. He worked with his people. He sent the prophets to bring us back. Finally he sent his Son, Jesus, Emmanuel: "God is with us."

"He will save his people from their sins," the angel told Joseph. That name, "Emmanuel," means "God is with us." Jesus brings us back to the friendship and love we so need to have from God and with God. His life gives us grace, his passion and death take away our sins, his resurrection brings us to new life.

So here we are on the brink of Christmas, ready to celebrate the birth of the Son, ready to welcome the king of glory, ready to have "God is with us" as the way we live.

Or are we?

"Walk with God -- he's waiting for you! "Do not be afraid," to use the angel's words, to welcome the Lord into your life, into your heart."

Have we used this time of Advent to get ready, to prepare the way of the Lord? Have we heeded the call of the Gospel and turned away from our sins? Have we answered the call of our baptism to be holy disciples of the Lord?

Have we believed that Jesus is Emmanuel, "God is with us," and that he will save us from our sins?

If not, there's still a little time to get ready. Use the Sacrament of Reconciliation to become God's obedient servant once again. Walk with God -- he's waiting for you! "Do not be afraid," to use the angel's words, to welcome the Lord into your life, into your heart.

Welcome the sign that God has placed within your heart: Emmanuel, "God is with us," as the recognition that the Son whose birth we have awaited is the One whose return we anticipate. He is a sign for all the ages, a sign that "God is with us" is the way it was always meant to be, from the very beginning.

Fr. John G. Stillmank is Moderator of the Curia for the Diocese of Madison and pastor of St. Andrew Parish, Verona, and St. William Parish, Paoli.