Tuesday, 18 December 2007

Daily Gospel
Tuesday of the Third week of Advent

St. Gatian, Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Commentary of the day

John Paul II : "When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him"

Reading

Jer. 23,5-8.

Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David; As king he shall reign and govern wisely, he shall do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah shall be saved, Israel shall dwell in security. This is the name they give him: "The LORD our justice." Therefore, the days will come, says the LORD, when they shall no longer say, "As the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt"; but rather, "As the LORD lives, who brought the descendants of the house of Israel up from the land of the north"--and from all the lands to which I banished them; they shall again live on their own land.

Ps 72,1.12-13.18-19.

Of Solomon. For he rescues the poor when they cry out, the oppressed who have no one to help. He shows pity to the needy and the poor and saves the lives of the poor. Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who alone does wonderful deeds. Blessed be his glorious name forever; may all the earth be filled with the
LORD'S glory. Amen and amen.

Mt 1,18-24.
Now 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.

Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB

Commentary of the day

John Paul II

Redemptoris Custos, §4-5 (©Libreria editrice vaticana)

"When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him"
Now at the beginning of this pilgrimage, the faith of Mary meets the faith
of Joseph. If Elizabeth said of the Redeemer's Mother, "Blessed is she who
believed," (Lk 1,45), in a certain sense this blessedness can be referred
to Joseph as well, since he responded positively to the word of God when it
was communicated to him at the decisive moment. While it is true that
Joseph did not respond to the angel's "announcement" in the same way as
Mary, he "did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took his wife."
What he did is the clearest "obedience of faith" (cf. Rom 1:5). One can say
that what Joseph did united him in an altogether special way to the faith
of Mary. He accepted as truth coming from God the very thing that she had
already accepted at the Annunciation. The Second Vatican Council teaches:
"'The obedience of faith' must be given to God as he reveals himself. By
this obedience of faith man freely commits himself entirely to God, making
'the full submission of his intellect and will to God who reveals,' and
willingly assenting to the revelation given by him,"(Dei Verbum, 5). This
statement, which touches the very essence of faith, is perfectly applicable
to Joseph of Nazareth. Therefore he became a unique guardian of the mystery
"hidden for ages in God" (Eph 3,9), as did Mary, in that decisive moment
which St. Paul calls "the fullness of time," when "God sent forth his Son,
born of woman...to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might
receive adoption as sons" (Gal 4,4-5)…Together with Mary, Joseph is the
first guardian of this divine mystery… Looking at the gospel texts of both
Matthew and Luke, one can also say that Joseph is the first to share in the
faith of the Mother of God and that in doing so he supports his spouse in
the faith of the divine annunciation. He is also the first to be placed by
God on the path of Mary's "pilgrimage of faith."… The path that was
Joseph's-his pilgrimage of faith - ended first;… nevertheless, Joseph's way
of faith moved in the same direction.

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