Matthew 1:18-23
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."
Dawg's thought:
Today's prayer intention is for a special intention.
Today in the Catholic Church we celebrate the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Jesus Christ is Our Lord, and we know this, and we know why He came to the earth. We know that Mary was made to be the mother of Our Lord, and that through her, fulfilling God's words spoken through the prophet Isaiah. We know that Joseph was made to be the husband of Mary, and that through him, the prophecy was fulfilled as well, because through his marriage to Mary, Jesus was born "in the line of David."
The parents of Jesus show us what it means to be disciples. After all, Mary is a "type" of The Church, in receiving Christ within her, and saying "yes" to The Word of God. Today's reading, though, we also see Joseph's "yes" in the midst of unknowing. He "yes" was a "yes" of true dignity: to please God. Speaking as a man, he may have had his own notions of how his wife would be, and he may not have envisioned that his wife would be pregnant when he "took his wife into his home." To him, though, the will of God came first. To Mary, the will of God came first. To each of us, we see parents who are obedient, and we are called to imitate that same obedience when we hear The Word of God. Take care and God Bless.
|
