Some years ago, Archbishop Vigneron of Detroit shared something about the name “Emmanuel” that I have never forgotten.

As we rush towards the Solemnity of the Nativity of our Lord, I find myself thinking more and more about St. Joseph. The above passage, proclaimed last Sunday, continues to echo in my ears. Is there another man who can seriously rival Joseph for faith? Is there any intercessor who can better help us know what God can do to shattered dreams? Aside from Mary, who can teach us that, truly, nothing is impossible for God?

“My son, I have many servants and messengers to whom I entrust the delivery of my messages and carry my wishes…But it must be you.”

This exchange took place in early December, 1531, between Saint Juan Diego and the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe. This was the second time Juan Diego saw the Virgin Mary. In their first encounter, Our Lady had asked him to tell the bishop, Juan de Zumarraga, that she desired a Church to be built in her honor and for the glory of the one true God, the Creator of all. The bishop, understandably, did not believe that this simple peasant had actually seen the Mother of God. What happened afterwards (the Castilian roses, the miraculous imprinting of the image of Our Lady on Juan Diego’s tilma, and, of course, the bishop recognizing that Mary had in fact requested this) history now knows.

Sometimes, perhaps, you have moments in prayer that seem rather awkward, when God reveals something to you that seems so elemental that you should have known it (and perhaps did) but it is revealed with a piercing clarity that is striking. I had one of those moments last week praying with this text from Paul’s letter to his friend, Titus.

The revelation centered around that word “coming.” The Greek word used can also be translated as “appearing.” It can furthermore mean “shine, light up, manifest, come into light.” Finally, it can be translated as “advent.”

Here’s where the piercing clarity came.