Sunday before the Nativity of Christ – Sunday of the Holy Fathers, Octoechos Tone 5; Eve of the Nativity of Christ; The Holy Venerable-Martyr Eugenia.
Hebrews 11:9-10,17-23,32-40; Matthew 1:1-25.
Read Matthew 1:1-25
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
Our obedience to God now is also a preparation for obeying Him even more in the future.
In Jewish Law, Joseph was Mary’s husband when Jesus was conceived in her, but not by him, during their betrothal. Today’s Gospel reading says that he was “a just man”, a man who lived by the Law God gave Israel.
Joseph had two options: bring Mary before a public court or give her a bill of divorce and send her away. He was “a just man” but was also “unwilling to put her to shame”, so Joseph chose the latter and “quietly” on top of that.
Joseph applied the Law with love; he wanted better for Mary than just the consequences of sin. Joseph was addressed by the angel as, “son of David.” He is the genealogical link between the Davidic promise of a savior and Jesus, the one who “will save his people from their sins.” Joseph had cultivated in his relationship with God readiness for this most unexpected task.
A further window into his inner life is that Joseph, unlike Mary, did not have the angel “come” to him (Luke 1:28), he “appeared to him in a dream”. As Pope Benedict XVI wrote, “Only a man who is inwardly watchful for the divine, only someone with a real sensitivity for God and his ways, can receive God’s message in this way,” and know it was not just a dream. “He is inwardly prepared for the new, unexpected and, humanly speaking, incredible news that comes to him from God.” This “leads quite spontaneously to obedience. ‘Do not be afraid’ (are) the very words that the angel of the annunciation had spoken to Mary. By means of this same exhortation from the angel, Joseph is now drawn into the mystery of God’s incarnation.”