Joseph, her husband, … was a righteous man…

 

The scripture readings for today can be found at Friday of the Third Week of Advent | USCCB

In our gospel for today we hear of Joseph, the spouse of Mary, and his first reaction to hearing the news that she was pregnant. The first thought that came to his mind when he found out that Mary was pregnant was that she was unfaithful. Under Jewish law he could have had her put to death by stoning, but instead, since he loved Mary, he was unwilling to expose her to shame and decided to divorce her quietly. I’m sure he must have felt hurt and betrayed that the woman he loved became pregnant by someone else other than him. But he wasn’t going to allow these hurt feelings effect his love for Mary.

Joseph, being a righteous and devout man, was open to the promptings and Will of God. Joseph was privileged to have been approached by an angel through a dream, and it was there that he found out the true nature of the child that Mary was carrying. Being obedient to God he took Mary into his home and accepted the responsibility of caring for the Child Jesus. By doing so, he was saying “Yes” to God in much the same way Mary said “Yes” to God through the angel Gabriel when she found out that she was to be the mother of the Savior. Joseph was to be part of salvation history by being the foster father of the Lord Jesus.  He knew there will be problems and issues in doing so, but he acted out of love and obedience towards God to do what was needed to be done.

Throughout scripture there are no words spoken by Joseph. In today’s gospel, we hear of his concern about Mary being pregnant, followed by his desire to divorce her quietly. Then we hear of him seeing an angel in his dreams telling him of the Child Jesus. No words were attributed to Joseph, but he responds in a way that shows great faith in God. He is a man of action and is willing to do what God needs him to do to protect Mary and the Child Jesus.

Joseph is so important that Pope Francis named 2021 as the Year of St. Joseph. Pope Francis describes Saint Joseph as a beloved father, a tender and loving father, an obedient father, an accepting father; a father who is creatively courageous, a working father, a father in the shadows.

As we enter into the final week of Advent, and prepare for the birth of Jesus, let us try to live in imitation of Joseph whose entire life was in devotion to Jesus and to His Mother Mary.

Lord Jesus, help us to share with those in our lives that you are Emmanuel, God with us.

Let it be done for you according to your faith!

 

The Scripture readings for today's reflection can be found at Friday of the First Week of Advent | USCCB

In our gospel for today we hear of the two blind men approaching Jesus to be healed and receive their sight. Turning to them, Jesus asks, “Do you believe I can do this for you?” They responded, “Yes, Lord.” Then, according to their faith, they were healed. Jesus had the power to simply say the word of healing, and they would have been healed. Instead Jesus was looking to bring these men to a deeper relationship with God. Jesus didn’t want these men to simply get a quick fix for their vision problem.  He was helping them to develop their faith in Him as Lord and God. He was helping them to develop that inner vision of faith in God that they really needed. Since their eyes were opened, we can assume that they did indeed have faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior.

They were so overjoyed at being healed that they couldn’t keep it a secret. Even after Jesus said to tell no one that he healed them, they went out and shared this good news with everyone. They simply couldn’t keep it to themselves.

Central in the healing of these two men, and many of the other healings that Jesus performed had to do with “faith.” “Let it be done according to your faith.” We need to question ourselves as to how strong our faith in God is as we turn to Him for our own needs. We turn to God constantly with prayer requests of all sorts. Whether it’s asking for a healing, or a resolution to some sort of problem we may be facing, or for a family member or friend that is some sort of trouble, we turn to Jesus to bring healing and peace. We need to develop our faith in Jesus and know that he’s there for us no matter what our problem happens to be.

There will be times when our prayers aren’t answered in the way we expected them to be answered. These men received what they asked for and as a result had their faith in God increased. Then they felt a need share this faith in God with others. For us, there may be times when God may not give us what we ask for, but instead gives us what we truly need. We need to remain strong in our faith in Jesus and accept that His response to our prayers may not be what we want, but rather what we need. It’s during these times of unexpected blessings, blessings that we didn’t expect or ask for, but are good for us, we should be thankful to Jesus and give Him glory and praise. Further, like the men in today’s gospel, we are called to bring the good news that Jesus is Lord and Savior and is waiting for us to develop that relationship with Him and the Father.

Lord Jesus, we believe, help our unbelief. Amen