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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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Perhaps one of the most popular scenes depicted in Christian art is the Annunciation, the moment when the angel Gabriel appears to Mary, telling her that she’ll bear the Son of God in her womb.
What’s much less depicted is today’s Gospel scene, which we might call, the annunciation to Saint Jospeh. Like Mary, Joseph learns of God’s plans for his life through the mouth of an angel, and he, too, is baffled.
And like Mary, Joseph’s “yes” will play a crucial role in the Christmas story.
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Without his assent, the Old Testament prophesies foretelling that the Son of God would come from David’s line would not be fulfilled.
Without Joseph, Mary could easily be reduced to a life of begging, trying to provide for this miraculous child, which society would deem illegitimate.
Without Joseph, Mary would be denied a husband to help her navigate this extraordinary change in circumstances. It takes the “yes” of both of them to bring this child into the world and to raise him in a safe, nourishing home.
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The heart of Joseph’s story is about waking up in a mess that he did not create – his wife is pregnant, and the child is not his; his heart has been broken; the future he had hoped for is over.
Yet he does not divorce himself from it; he listens to the voice of an angel, takes Mary into his home, accepts this mysterious child, looking for God’s presence in it all.
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Like Joseph, I’m sure we’ve all woken up a time or two, finding ourselves in circumstances we had never imagined – a malignant diagnosis, a closed door, dryness in prayer, a broken heart, a loved one suddenly taken from our midst.
The temptation is to divorce ourselves from it all, either abandoning the cross we’ve been given, or to seek relief in ways that do not help us in the end.
But Joseph reminds us that – whatever our own mess may be – God is present. There’s an angel somewhere, in some form, saying to us what was said to him and to Mary, “Do not be afraid.”
Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us.
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Image credits: (1) Aleteia (2) Integrated Catholic Life (3) Saint Joseph with the Infant Jesus, Guido Reni