Monday March 19, 2018
Joseph,
Husband of Mary
1st Reading: 2 Sm 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 celebrates the feast of St. Joseph, one of the few saints honored with two feasts in a calendar year. He deserves the double honor because he selflessly dedicated his whole life to give Jesus the Davidic lineage, thereby fulfilling the prophecy that the Messiah would come from David’s line.
Equally important as the Davidic lineage he handed down to the Messiah was the virtue of righteousness that Joseph inculcated upon him. When Joseph found Mary with child before they lived together, Joseph had in his mind the law punishing with death any woman caught with child by another man. He wanted to divorce her quietly lest she should be condemned to a shameful death without the benefit of trial. Only a righteous man could have ratiocinated this way- a man always in search for God’s Will.
Having absorbed this kind of righteousness from his step father, Jesus learned to search for God’s Will as he grew up. The same led him to frequent collision with the Pharisees who were screwed to the letter of the Law. In contrast Jesus enjoyed the freedom of applying the Law to prosper the Will of the Father. He cured many on a Sabbath despite the prohibition because to him the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27). He even dined with sinners even though associating with sinners was illegal. It was clear to him that he came not to call the righteous but sinners (Matthew 9:13). It was thus that he laid down the path along which righteous people must tread – the same path his father Joseph walked. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M.
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