Episodes
Tuesday Dec 17, 2013
December 22 : Fourth Sunday in Advent: Joseph, the just man
Tuesday Dec 17, 2013
Tuesday Dec 17, 2013
First
Reading : Isaiah 7:10-16
Psalm : Psalm 80:1-7,
17-19
Second
Reading : Romans 1:1-7
Gospel : Matthew 1:18-25
Today is the
fourth Sunday in Advent. Christmas will dawn in few days. Matthew’s story of
the birth of Jesus centres on the person of Joseph. The mystery is so great
that Joseph cannot understand what is happening. In his puzzlement, the Lord
calls Joseph to a remarkable act of faith and obedience. Joseph, in wordless
response to the word of God communicated by an angel, rose and ‘took his wife to
his home’. A total and unquestioning acceptance of the word of God is Joseph’s
first action in Matthew’s infancy story. St. Joseph shows us the value of grace
under pressure. He always found himself in emergency situations during the
brief period of his life on earth: having to accept a young wife who is
pregnant before they are married, having to travel to faraway Bethlehem, having
to flee as refugees into Egypt etc. He had to face a lot of pressure, a lot of
crisis and a lot of emergency situations but God’s grace was sufficient for
him. St. Bernard comments that God never gives us a challenge or a call or a
duty without the sufficient grace to accomplish it. Joseph leads the way and
shows us the quality of trust and commitment to the coming of God, which should
mark the lives of each and every one of us this Christmas.
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