A young woman used to come to Mass every Sunday, and one could see immediately that there was something not quite right about her.  She would dress inappropriately, and when she spoke, one could barely understand her mumbling.  Her face usually had a distant and sometimes vacant expression.  Unable to sit still during the liturgy, she frequently stepped outside for a cigarette.  Sometimes when she walked, it was as if her body was made of lead, and she was trying to drag it along.  Yet every Sunday, the young woman came.

At one point, the young woman died, and I was asked to do the funeral. After Mass had finished, some members of the family gave eulogies for the woman, and the words that came out of their mouths were a great surprise to me.  They all talked about her as someone who certainly had a difficult life, with bad relationships, problems with drugs and alcohol, and health issues, and they recognized the many challenges she had had to face in her lifetime.  But she was also the one in the family who had the most faith.  She was the one who would find some time during the day to be in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, not praying for herself, but for all others in need.  She was the one who would talk about the goodness and fidelity of God whenever other members of her family were experiencing crises.  She was the one who kept them united in the faith.  And it amazed me how God worked in this young woman, in spite of, and perhaps even because of her brokenness.  Her brokenness also changed me.

As we see from the Gospel today, God worked in what seemed to be a broken situation.  Imagine Joseph, excited at the prospect of marrying his bride, only to find out that she was with child.  He may have received the news with great skepticism when his fiancée told him that she was pregnant because the Holy Spirit made her so.    He must have been hurt and disappointed that someone he loved would betray him in such a way, and incredulous that she would come up with some strange and bizarre tale to save face.  But it was through this seemingly broken situation that God revealed his greatest glory, the incarnation of his Son.  In these challenging circumstances, Christ began his salvific work on earth.  Ultimately, it is Christ broken on the cross that is the culmination of his earthly mission.

And God continues to work in what seem to be broken situations, and invites us to witness his saving power.  When our plans do not seem to come to fruition, no matter how hard we try—God is at work.  When we are disappointed and frustrated when our expectations are not met—God is at work.  When our prayers go seemingly unanswered—God is at work.  Sometimes he invites us to act.  Sometimes he asks others to act and be Christ for us.  Sometimes, he simply wants us to wait.  And very often it is hard to understand or appreciate this while we are in the midst of the struggle.  We are not all blessed like Joseph to have dreams in the middle of the night that assure us of His activity.  But we have a life of prayer and meditation that allow us to step back and see the grander design of God for us.

In Advent, we are invited to do this reflecting, remembering the nativity of Christ as part of the grand design of salvation for humanity.  We are also invited to reflect on how God includes us personally in this great design, how he has worked in even the seemingly broken areas of our lives for our good and the good of all.