How many times have you read or heard read the words of Isaiah 7:14? Most likely a majority of Roman Catholics would have no idea what the verse handled. Let's look and think.
Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,
and they shall call him Emmanuel.
"Oh, yes. I have head that line before!" might well be the response of most. Do you think or feel that Mary and Joseph as well might have been embarrassed when walking the dusty roads in their village? And why might that have happened?
Jewish law, at that time, had a three-staged marriage plan: engagement, pre-marriage betrothal and marriage. Sexual relations prior to marriage were forbidden. Adultery resulted in stoning. (A thought if the adulteress was stoned to death, was there any recognition of the death of an unborn child if the woman/girl was pregnant?)
So Mary and Joseph had challenges. Joseph, it seems, had decided that he would follow the law and apply for a decree of divorce from Mary. However, as we know, an angelic dream advised Joseph to take Mary into his home; to accept her has his wife ... and to have no sexual relations with her until the child Jesus was born.
What meaning is there for us today?
We know that pre-marital sex has resulted in many "surprise" or "unwanted" pregnancies. Many families and friends have had to deal with this situation. How do we react today? "Oh, that is the way it is today?" Or, at the other end of the spectrum: imposed separation from the community; hiding in an unknown location until the signs of pregnancy no longer exist; rejection, rejection, rejection.
Yet how many ask about the impact of the "scarlet letter" assigned to the pregnant one? Rejection, ridicule, condemnation: these are the trophies awarded with the "scarlet letter." How can a young woman, or any woman feel once the pregnancy is known? Perhaps at least two directions are possible for her (and her child): either "forever" estrangement from family, friends, society and even her church or an extraordinary journey into "Shame, despair and solitude [Sparknotes, Nathaniel Hawthorne]. What a classroom! By the time of the birth, this new mother will have learned much from rejection but she will have grown in strength and determination.
What can it mean beyond pregnancy? How do we deal with a family member or a close friend who comes and says, "I am gay or I am a lesbian." A lot to think about!
