18th of December

Gospel text

(Mt 1,18-24): 

This is how Jesus Christ was born. Mary his mother had been given to Joseph in marriage but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, made plans to divorce her in all secrecy. He was an upright man, and in no way did he want to discredit her.

While he was pondering over this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, «Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She has conceived by the Holy Spirit, and now she will bear a son. You shall call him “Jesus” for he will save his people from their sins». All this happened in order to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: «The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and he will be called Emmanuel which means: “God-with-us”». When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do and he took his wife to his home.

The Application

Yesterday I told you that the Incarnation not only reveals to us the divine plan, His love for humanity, but also reveals to us the humanity as it was willed by the Lord. If God chose our humanity, because he wished that through the Incarnation, man will meet the divinity in his own humanity.

The Gospel of the day reveals to us once again, in a purely human commitment of Joseph, in a humanity par excellence, in his person (this year is already declared as a year of St. Joseph), the same humanity that God wanted from the beginning of creation and what is still proposed to the humanity of the day.

In his silence, through the strongest possible commitment for a man, an excellent discretion, that Joseph cooperates with God, for the accomplishment of the divine will. The Incarnate will thus find, a dwelling worthy of Him, on earth, by mankind, a dwelling carefully prepared by God.

If you want to hear, we are this dwelling that God is preparing today for his only Son. We must ask ourselves this fundamental question; our heart is it worthy to welcome him? Do we want to make a worthy home for him through our conversion?

Action of the day : Be Courageous

«Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife»

Fr. Antoni CAROL i Hostench

(Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain)

Today, the liturgy of the Word invites us to think of the wonderful example St. Joseph gives us. He was extremely sensitive towards Mary, his betrothed.

There is no doubt that both were excellent people, in love with each other like no other couple. However, it is plain to see that the Almighty wanted their love to go through some very demanding circumstances.

The Pope saint John Paul II has written that «Christianity is a surprise from a God who has taken sides with his creature». As a matter of fact, He has taken the initiative: To come to this world He has not waited for us to deserve it. He proposes His initiative; He does not impose it upon us: It is as though God asked us for “permission”. To Mary He proposed —never imposed anything!— the vocation of being the Mother of God: «He, who had the power to create everything from nothing, had refused to rebuild what had been desecrated if Mary had not agreed to it» (Saint Anselm).

But God, not only is asking us for permission, He also wants us to take part in His plans, to make a heroic contribution. And so it was for Mary and Joseph. In fact the Christ-child needed parents. Even more so: He needed his parent's heroism, for they had to go to extremes to defend the life of the “little Redeemer”.

What is really beautiful is that Mary revealed only a few details of her childbearing: Such an important fact is reported in just two verses (cf. Lk 2:6-7). On the other hand, she was more explicit when speaking of Joseph's thoughtfulness towards her. The fact was that «before they lived together, she was found to be preg­nant through the Holy Spirit» (Mt 1:19), and in order not to risk discrediting her, he would have preferred to disappear discretely and to renounce her love (something that was socially unfavorable to him). Thus, before the law of charity had been proclaimed, Saint Joseph was already practicing it: Mary (and his loving attentions with her) was his law.