The title, Emmanuel, expresses God’s presence with His people, His concern and protection over them - a theme commonly noted throughout the Old Testament. It also alludes to God’s promise to be with the Davidic dynasty, so important was this theme that St Matthew uses it to bracket his entire Gospel from the beginning till the end. God will indeed protect and be concerned with us. He wants to be a part of our lives. As seen in the Gospel, even though St Joseph was afraid and confused, he still obeyed what the Lord has spoken through the angel. He takes Mary to be his wife and accepts the child as his own. Both St Joseph and our Lady cooperated with God’s plan for their lives even if they did not understand what it meant. Their lives of faith, humility and obedience are models for us to emulate since, one is the disciple par excellence and the other the Guardian of the Redeemer. May we know God’s faithful presence in our lives when we look to the lives and examples of the saints who show us that no matter what life throws at us, we can be certain that God walks with us always as our Emmanuel.