Our gospel for today proclaims the birth of Jesus as the fulfillment of the prophecy in our lesson from the Hebrew scriptures—what Isaiah called a sign from God. Paul, in his epistle to the Romans today, sees the resurrection of Jesus as a sign that Christ Jesus is the Son of God. John, in his gospel, points out one sign after another “so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.” (Jn.20:31)

The prophet recognized the Presence of God active in his world—likewise the psalmist. Paul was stunned by the Divine Presence turning his life completely around from persecuting the early church to being its prime evangelist. Joseph, “being a righteous man [and knowing the stipulations of the law] and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace [and perhaps stoning], planned to dismiss her quietly,” until he perceived the Divine Presence speaking to him in a dream. Those are a few of the different ways of experiencing the signs of God’s Presence, ways we may recognize the Divine in our lives today.

Take some time to reflect on how you recognize the signs of God’s Presence in your life. For me, synchronicity, the meaningful coincidence of unrelated things, has been a major sign of God’s presence for over 20 years. From the early 90’s, I can remember sharing in Cursillo small group reunions my “moment closest to Christ” constantly showing up in my experiences of synchronicity. Surprise, something out of the blue, coming when I least expect it, I have come to realize can be a sign of the Divine Presence for me—at one point I even thought I might write a book about God’s surprises. Like Joseph above, I too have heard the voice of the Holy Dream Maker reaching me through the symbolic language of my dreams, a sign I need to pay attention. Love is another sign of the Divine Presence for me—I expect those who are near and dear to me to return my love, of course, but when those who have no obligation to love me do so, I know it is a sign that I am in the presence of God.