When life seems unfair, remember the Christmas story (A morning meditation)

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Gospel: Matthew 1: 18-25

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. 
When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
but before they lived together,
she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. 
Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly. 
Such was his intention when, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 
“Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. 
For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her. 
She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins.” 
All this took place to fulfill
what the Lord had said through the prophet:

Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,

which means “God is with us.” 
When Joseph awoke,
he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him
and took his wife into his home. 
He had no relations with her until she bore a son,
and he named him Jesus.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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How often does life seem unfair?

We don’t get into the high school or college of our choice; we get a pink slip at work; a poor diagnosis; a relationship ends; a brutal virus ravages our world.

In these moments, the challenge is to believe God is still working in our lives.

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Consider the life of Saint Joseph. Scripture tells us he was a humble man; an honest man; the type of person you want to root for. Yet his world seems shattered by unfairness.

Mary, his bride-to-be, is pregnant and the child isn’t his. Even after the angel appears to Joseph in a dream and explains what’s happened, his circumstances remain terribly unfair.

God invites Joseph to love a woman whose story he doesn’t fully understand; to protect a baby that he didn’t father; to accept this child as the heir to his name; and, soon enough, to rush into Egypt as a refugee because King Herod put a death warrant out for Jesus.

That’s a tough pill to swallow. 

But maybe there’s a message in that for us.

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Joseph’s experience of faith reminds us that God is always at work in our lives, even when our circumstances are difficult or seem unfair.

Sometimes we just need to be patient with the Lord – and trust.

When Joseph first heard Mary was pregnant, for example, he thought his life was over. But slowly he began to see that this was the first step towards the salvation of the world. 

What seemed like the end was merely a bend in the road.

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When have my own life circumstances felt unfair? Or when has the Lord invited me to trust, like Joseph and Mary?

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In the words Mary, who also finds herself at a bend in the road, “May it be done unto me according to your word.”