March 19, 2016 Friday, 5th Week of Lent
Solemnity of St. Joseph, Husband of Mary
1st Reading: 2 S 7:4–5a, 12–14a, 16
2nd Reading: Rom 4:13, 16–18, 22
Gospel: Mt 1:16, 18–21, 24a (or Lk 2:41–51a)
Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and from her came Jesus who is called the Christ—the Messiah.This is how Jesus Christ was born. Mary his mother had been given to Joseph in marriage but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.Then Joseph, her husband, made plans to divorce her in all secrecy. He was an upright man, and in no way did he want to discredit her.While he was pondering over this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She has conceived by the Holy Spirit, and now she will bear a son. You shall call him ‘Jesus’ for he will save his people from their sins.”When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do and he took his wife to his home.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE (Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Today the Church honors St. Joseph, one of the few saints with two feasts in a calendar year, one honoring him as husband of Mary on March 19 and another honoring him as patron of workers every first of May. The extra attention the Church is giving him is not to compensate him for his lack of speaking lines in the gospels but to give him due recognition for his role in the incarnation, and to remind us of his important role in our lives. Joseph gave Jesus the Davidic lineage needed to fulfill the prophecy that the Messiah should come from the line of David. Most of all he handed down to Jesus the virtue of righteousness founded on God’s Will.
This was Joseph’s paramount virtue, so apparent in his decision after finding Mary pregnant. Mary should have been stoned to death as prescribed in the Law of Moses (Dt. 22:22; Lev. 20:10). Joseph decided to divorce her quietly – a decision only a man in continuous search of God’s will could make.
This same virtue sustained Jesus in managing major oppositions to his mission. It gave him focus, never shifting from God’s Will to mere Jewish tradition whether on an ordinary day or on a Sabbath. It led him to the freedom of the Spirit – one not tied to the letter of the law but centered on the spirit of the law.
These are only two of the many significant contributions of St. Joseph to the fulfillment of the promise of salvation. Truly he deserves not just two major feasts in our calendar but one major place in our hearts and a major role in every Christian family. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: [email protected].
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