Sunday, December 18, 2016 4th Sunday of
Advent 1st Reading: Is 7:10–142nd Reading: Rom 1:1–7 Gospel: Mt 1:18–24
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.” All this happened in order to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and he will be called Emmanuel which means: God with us. 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)
Management principles offer simple steps to arrive at good decisions. “IDEAS” as an acronym offers the following steps, namely, Identification of the problem, Development of alternative solutions, Evaluation of each alternative, Application of the best solution first at micro level for testing purposes before final application, and Systematic evaluation of the whole process. St. Joseph’s story enriches our IDEAS theory with two vital components, namely, the consideration of the welfare of others and the deference to the Will of God.
The problem of St. Joseph began when he found his girlfriend Mary pregnant before their scheduled marriage. The Book of Deuteronomy provides: “If there is a girl who is a virgin engaged to a man, and another man finds her in the city and lies with her, then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city and you shall stone them to death…” (Deut. 22:23-24).
Joseph had to decide whether to continue with the marriage or not. He chose to back out. This decision however included provisions for the welfare of Mary in this wise: he will break up with her silently so that she will not be stoned to death. The freedom to decide exercised in this fashion
necessitates God’s intervention. In the case of Joseph, God intervened and sent an angel to instruct him not to be afraid in taking Mary as his wife. He obeyed and took care of Mary and her child. It was one of the most successful decisions in history, for it brought salvation to the world.
If we want to make good decisions we must allow God’s will to influence our “IDEAS”. – Atty. Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. 09287255610
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