Fourth Sunday of Advent: A Maryknoll Reflection
By Louis and Janet Tullo, Maryknoll Affiliates
Fourth Sunday of Advent
December 14, 2025
Isaiah 7:10-14 | Psalm 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6 | Romans 1:1-7 | Matthew 1:18-24
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.”— Matthew 1:23
Last year, the Gospel reading for today focused on Mary’s perspective. This year, we walk with Joseph. Both stories are profiles in courage and faith.
What do we know about Joseph? Not much, just that he is a carpenter. When Joseph learns that his betrothed, Mary, is pregnant, he righteously plans to divorce her quietly, to protect her from public shame.
According to Old Testament law, Mary could have been stoned for being pregnant before marriage, as this was considered a crime punishable by death — if it were discovered.
An angel appears to Joseph in a dream and tells him, “do not be afraid” to marry Mary. Was Joseph afraid of breaking the law? Of harboring a criminal? Was he afraid that others would question his righteousness?
We know how the story ends so we cannot fully appreciate the dilemma. Few of us realize the terror young girls faced in this situation. Few of us credit foster father Joseph with integrity, empathy, compassion, selflessness and bravery.
Both Mary and Joseph demonstrated the courage and faith to do the right thing even when the law directed otherwise.
This tension between law and love is echoed today. Some people feel righteous when immigrants are deported, claiming they are violent criminals or a threat to our way of life who “stole their way here.”
Yet, when we spend time with immigrants who lack papers, we see modern-day profiles of courage. Many leave behind horrendous situations in their home countries of extortion, corruption and brutal violence. Would we not do anything to protect our own children from violence or poverty?
Operations by ICE agents — targeting a grandmother out to buy food, or a landscaper with Marine sons — may be legal, but are they truly the right thing to do?
A few years ago, we met a group of Central American men traveling north toward the United States. They were migrating in search of work to support their desperate families. Like Joseph, they felt called to this difficult journey, fraught with obstacles. And, like Joseph, they rose to the occasion, choosing to do what was right.
We recently met other migrants in Texas and in New York whose stories are like modern-day carpenters, trying to protect their families just as Joseph did. It takes a lot of courage to leave home and live and work in another country. Like Mary, they face the threat of “stoning” to remove them from our society.
What are we called to do in this fraught moment? What is the angel whispering in our dreams? What do Mary and Joseph teach us about doing the right thing for immigrants as opposed to being justified under the law?
In this Advent season, let us support organizations accompanying and assisting migrants, and support legislation that can improve the migrant path to citizenship. And let us recognize the quiet courage of many “little” people who are finding that they can be brave like Mary and Joseph, who took great risks to ensure that Christ was and is with us.
Maryknoll Affiliates Janet and Louis Tullo have been married for over 50 years and have raised eight children together. Lou is a retired educator and school administrator, and Janet has four decades of experience practicing law. Residing in Beacon, New York, they volunteer in various service projects.
Questions for Reflection
- Name an obstacle holding you or your community back from choosing the path of greater compassion and justice.
- How can Joseph’s example empower that choice?
Prayer
Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, our first American saint,
pray for us. You came to the United States
as an immigrant yourself, and worked tirelessly
on behalf of the poor, the sick, and the otherwise
marginalized who arrived on our shores.
As the Patroness of immigrants, you have a
special concern for those displaced from their
homeland in search of a new life. You understand
their sufferings and the challenges they face as they
navigate a new world in search of a new home.
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, intercede for migrant
families who are separated from loved one, protect
them from exploitation, and keep them safe.
May we, Blessed Frances Xavier Cabrini, receive
through your prayers the grace to open our hearts
so that we may provide hospitality for all who come
in search of refuge. Give us the courage to welcome
every stranger as Christ in our midst. Amen.
— USCCB Mother Cabrini Prayer Card
To read other Scripture reflections published by the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, click here.
Featured image: Maryknoll Affiliates in Albany, New York, hold signs at a prayer vigil on the feast day of St. Francis Xavier Cabrini, patron saint of immigrants, Nov. 14, 2025. Photo courtesy of the Maryknoll Affiliates and shared on their Facebook page.
