The Annuciation to St. Joseph
Reflection on the Gospel of the Monday
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Matthew 1: 16, 18-21, 24a |
Mathew, the apostle of Jesus wrote the Gospel for the Jews and so it was important for him to prove to the Jews that this Jesus was part of the genealogy from Abraham and David as it was written in scriptures that the Messiah would be their descendant.
Secondly, as the Jews were a patriotic community, the appearing of the angel to Mary in a vision would not have been accepted, hence he included the vision that Joseph saw and as Luke wrote the Gospel, mostly for the gentiles he included in detail the appearance of angel Gabriel to Mary. Now Joseph being a righteous man knew that the punishment for a woman to give birth to a child before marriage was death by stoning. To avoid Mary to be put to shame he decided to resolve the matter quietly. But when he received the message from the angel he did not think twice and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him to do.
Being the feast of St Joseph, let us reflect on his character and works he did silently without anyone knowing. He accepted Mary and took care of her and Jesus as his own son and gave him the love and affection of the earthly Father. Though we rarely remember Joseph to intercede for us when we pray, there are many miracles that have been doing the rounds, I would like to mention the miracle of the stairway built in Mexico at Loretto Chapel. In my opinion all parents who need advice for their children and any family issues show pray to him. And also who are desperate to build a house or need guidance for architecture or likewise should pray to him.
Let us pray to St Joseph to help us bring unity and peace in our families and give our children the wisdom to live their lives that Jesus came down to teach us the Way of Life.
Another Reflction
“Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit;
she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
The picture of Joseph that comes through these Gospel lines is that he is a man of faith and hope. He is definitely honourable and considerate. He is a man after God’s heart, therefore God granted him the privilege of being guardian to Jesus. A stark contrast to the religious figures of his times.
He is informed;
- Mary’s pregnancy is of Holy origins; is this so easy to accept? That God the Pure and Holy choses to dwell in a human vessel. Definitely not for the people of Josephs time
- Mary is going to be the mother of a son – His name and mission is to be to deliverer, to rescue (Meaning of the name Jesus) – slightly Moses overtones
- He would reconcile humanity to God
This is the only message given to Joseph – yet he believed and undertook the guardianship of Jesus and Mary. His is not a super faith – it is like that of you and me. But what made the difference between him making sense of the message and believing in it is his relationship with God. His faith is not blind – and hence this message made sense. This message was to give him sufficient ground to understand God’s action among humanity. It was sufficient.
God is also speaking to us all the time, we need to pause and seek to build a relationship with him. A relationship based on friendship, hope and trust – meaning there is nothing you hide from Him, even your doubts about Him. Say those words to Him, Lord I believe, help my unbelief. Friendship, because He needs to be your free choice – not a reaction to fear. Trust because you cannot hold back anything from His control, because that would be unbelief/distrust.
Holy Spirit we pray; “we seek to believe, help our unbelief.”
