Where Have You Gone, Emmanuel?

This reflection on Matthew 1:18-25 invites us to rediscover a profound spiritual practice we may have forgotten: actively looking for God's presence in our everyday lives. Drawing from both King Ahaz's story in Isaiah and Joseph's crisis moment, we're reminded that God doesn't always show up where we expect or in the ways we plan. Ahaz was busy checking water supplies and military strategies when God offered him a sign through a pregnancy. Joseph was calculating legal options when a dream changed everything. Both men were focused on practical solutions while God was present in the vulnerable, unexpected places. The central message challenges us to move beyond waiting for God to fix our problems and instead recognize where God is already with us—in nursing homes, at doorsteps, in moments of limitation and need. The name Emmanuel, 'God with us,' isn't a promise that difficulties will disappear, but that no situation is God-forsaken. We're called to recover our spiritual sight, to practice the ancient discipline of asking daily: 'Where did I notice God's presence today?' This Advent season becomes an invitation not to make God appear, but to remember how to see the divine presence that's been waiting patiently all along in the ordinary, vulnerable places we've stopped truly noticing.