The Sunday Gospel [December 19, 2010]
Mt 1:18-24
The Birth of Jesus
18This 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. 19Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. 20Such 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. 21She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23“Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,/ and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” 24When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.
Guardian of the Redeemer
Chosen to be the mother of the Son of God, “the Word-made-flesh,” Mary shared in the mystery of the Incarnation like no other human being. But there was someone else who shared it with her, and he, too, was involved in the same salvific event: her betrothed, Joseph of Nazareth.
Today’s Gospel tells us of the origin of Mary’s pregnancy: she was with child through the power of the Holy Spirit. Matthew, who focuses on Joseph, simply states the situation. It is Luke who describes fully and explicitly the child’s conception. The angel Gabriel tells Mary, “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High” (Lk 1:31-32). Without hesitation, Mary answers yes to what is clearly God’s plan (“May it be done to me according to your word”). Her “pregnancy” becomes visible to Joseph with the passing of weeks. At this point, Luke’s text coincides with Matthew: Joseph seeks an answer to the unsettling question of Mary’s pregnancy as well as a way out of what he perceives as a difficult situation.
God has shown Mary her part in the plan of salvation. Here, in the parallel “annunciation,” God introduces Joseph to the mystery of Mary’s motherhood. While remaining a virgin, she, who by law is his “wife,” has become a mother through the power of the Holy Spirit. The invitation to Joseph is to take Mary home as his wife, and when the child in her womb comes into the world, he should give it the name “Jesus.” In other words, God entrusts to Joseph the responsibilities of an earthly father as regards Mary’s Son.
“When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.” The “upright” Joseph who thought of divorcing Mary shows a readiness to do what God asks of him, a readiness that is similar to Mary’s. He takes Mary in all the mystery of her motherhood. Although he does not respond verbally to the angel’s announcement, Joseph manifests the same “obedience of faith” that Mary shows and that Jesus will ask of his disciples. By this obedience of faith, one commits oneself entirely to God.
Pope John Paul II wrote a beautiful apostolic letter on the person and mission of Joseph. He called it Redemptoris Custos, “Guardian of the Redeemer.” Before Joseph can exercise fatherhood and guardianship of Jesus the Redeemer, he has to guard the mystery of the Incarnation—together with Mary and in relation to her. He has to be placed by God on the path of Mary’s “pilgrimage of faith.” Joseph’s way of faith is totally determined by the same mystery of the Incarnation.
References to Joseph are few. This is consistent with our picture of him as a simple and quiet man. But he is also a good and responsible guardian, and if the boy Jesus “grew in wisdom and favor” before God and humankind (Lk 2:52), it is due in no small measure to Joseph.
By his encyclical Quam¬quam Pluries (August 15, 1889), Pope Leo XIII declared St. Joseph the Patron of the Universal Church. Since then the Church has implored the protection of St. Joseph. In our days, Pope John Paul II writes: “Commending ourselves to the protection of him to whose custody God ‘entrusted his greatest and most precious treasures,’ let us learn from him how to be servants of the ‘economy of salvation.’ May St. Joseph become for all of us an exceptional teacher in the service of Christ’s saving mission, a mission which is the responsibility of each and every member of the Church” (Redemp-toris Custos, n 32).
18This 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. 19Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. 20Such 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. 21She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23“Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,/ and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” 24When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.
Guardian of the Redeemer
Chosen to be the mother of the Son of God, “the Word-made-flesh,” Mary shared in the mystery of the Incarnation like no other human being. But there was someone else who shared it with her, and he, too, was involved in the same salvific event: her betrothed, Joseph of Nazareth.
Today’s Gospel tells us of the origin of Mary’s pregnancy: she was with child through the power of the Holy Spirit. Matthew, who focuses on Joseph, simply states the situation. It is Luke who describes fully and explicitly the child’s conception. The angel Gabriel tells Mary, “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High” (Lk 1:31-32). Without hesitation, Mary answers yes to what is clearly God’s plan (“May it be done to me according to your word”). Her “pregnancy” becomes visible to Joseph with the passing of weeks. At this point, Luke’s text coincides with Matthew: Joseph seeks an answer to the unsettling question of Mary’s pregnancy as well as a way out of what he perceives as a difficult situation.
God has shown Mary her part in the plan of salvation. Here, in the parallel “annunciation,” God introduces Joseph to the mystery of Mary’s motherhood. While remaining a virgin, she, who by law is his “wife,” has become a mother through the power of the Holy Spirit. The invitation to Joseph is to take Mary home as his wife, and when the child in her womb comes into the world, he should give it the name “Jesus.” In other words, God entrusts to Joseph the responsibilities of an earthly father as regards Mary’s Son.
“When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.” The “upright” Joseph who thought of divorcing Mary shows a readiness to do what God asks of him, a readiness that is similar to Mary’s. He takes Mary in all the mystery of her motherhood. Although he does not respond verbally to the angel’s announcement, Joseph manifests the same “obedience of faith” that Mary shows and that Jesus will ask of his disciples. By this obedience of faith, one commits oneself entirely to God.
Pope John Paul II wrote a beautiful apostolic letter on the person and mission of Joseph. He called it Redemptoris Custos, “Guardian of the Redeemer.” Before Joseph can exercise fatherhood and guardianship of Jesus the Redeemer, he has to guard the mystery of the Incarnation—together with Mary and in relation to her. He has to be placed by God on the path of Mary’s “pilgrimage of faith.” Joseph’s way of faith is totally determined by the same mystery of the Incarnation.
References to Joseph are few. This is consistent with our picture of him as a simple and quiet man. But he is also a good and responsible guardian, and if the boy Jesus “grew in wisdom and favor” before God and humankind (Lk 2:52), it is due in no small measure to Joseph.
By his encyclical Quam¬quam Pluries (August 15, 1889), Pope Leo XIII declared St. Joseph the Patron of the Universal Church. Since then the Church has implored the protection of St. Joseph. In our days, Pope John Paul II writes: “Commending ourselves to the protection of him to whose custody God ‘entrusted his greatest and most precious treasures,’ let us learn from him how to be servants of the ‘economy of salvation.’ May St. Joseph become for all of us an exceptional teacher in the service of Christ’s saving mission, a mission which is the responsibility of each and every member of the Church” (Redemp-toris Custos, n 32).
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