Daily Gospel Reflection
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December 18, 2021
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.
St. Joseph is everywhere in the life of the Church.
Catholic schools and parishes bear his name, and even in the ones that do not, statues, prayer cards, or icons of him can be found.
Near the geographical location of the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, takes its name from the south bend of the St. Joseph River, which is not far from St. Joseph’s Lake on campus, all of which are in, wait for it… St. Joseph County.
Joseph is a protector of the universal church, and the church just dedicated an entire liturgical year to him. Yet, despite his importance, Joseph did not utter a single word in the gospels. He is an entirely silent presence.
Between the hustling and bustling, prepping and planning, the sprint from Thanksgiving to Christmas is anything but silent. Advent seems to come in like a whirlwind, offering distraction upon distraction to keep us focused on anything but the quiet coming of Jesus.
In today’s gospel, Joseph, too, is initially preoccupied with the uncertainty of the situations that he and Mary will face. However, upon hearing God’s call, Joseph got up and made himself present in silence.
What if Advent is not about what we are doing but about quietly embracing what God is doing? Our final preparation for the coming of Jesus should begin with St. Joseph, patron of the whole Church, modeling quiet, reverent, silence.
During this season of Advent, as we prepare to make room for Jesus in our hearts and homes, may we see through the many distractions and practice the simple, silent presence of St. Joseph, focusing on how God is preparing us for the quiet, unexpected arrival of Jesus.
Prayer
As we draw closer and closer to the celebration of the birth of Mary’s child, we listen to the Gospel narration of the divine announcement of Mary’s pregnancy and naming of her first-born Son, Jesus, yet to be born. Hearing this angelic message, we are reminded that each baptized Christian, each member of Christ’s Church, is a brother or sister of Jesus. We pray that we may be worthy of such a holy relationship. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Sts. Paul Mi and Peter Truat were among the hundreds of thousands of martyrs who were persecuted for their faith in Vietnam.
Peter was a catechist, and Paul was a convert who joined a missionary group to help spread the faith in Vietnam—they were both killed by strangulation. The painting shown here depicts these two saints being martyred with St. Peter Duong (whose feast day is December 10).
Another Vietnamese martyr honored tomorrow—St. Augustine Moi—was a manual laborer who was arrested during a persecution and commanded to trample a crucifix. He refused and was killed.
Between 150,000 and 300,000 Christians were killed for their faith in Vietnam in several waves of persecutions. Some were missionaries who were killed in the 17th century, others were killed in the last 200 years because of political movements that were at odds with the faith. These martyrs are all honored together on Nov. 24, and a number of them have their own feast days throughout the calendar.
Sts. Paul Mi and Peter Truat, you were killed for your faithfulness with thousands of other Vietnamese people, pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image for today is available for use under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Last accessed November 21, 2024 on Wikimedia Commons.
