Jerome Pistoni
4TH SUNDAY OF ADVENT, YEAR A
“Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally” According to the New World Dictionary of the American Language, honour means “High regard or great respect given, received or enjoyed.” The gospel according to Matthew tells us that Joseph and Mary were engaged. And in Jewish culture, engagement is binding, and can be terminated only by death or divorce.
Certainly, Joseph was puzzled when he discovered that his wife was pregnant before he knew her. Thus, as man of honour, he did not want to lose the great respect he enjoyed by taking the pregnant Mary as his wife. Also he wanted to protect Mary from being stoned (cf. Dt22: 23-24). This why, he decided to divorce he informally.
Joseph was still discerning the suitable decision he could take when God intervened. Joseph was asked in a dream to not be afraid to take Mary home as his wife because she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. And he has to name the child: Jesus because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins. Then Joseph obeyed the angel without question. From Joseph, we can learn to be people of honour, discernment and obedience to God.
As people of honour, we need to respect others as they are; they are God’s creations. Let us remember this: “So always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that is the meaning of the Law and the prophets” (Mt7: 12).
Like Joseph we should always discern before making important decisions. For Pope Francis, discernment is reflection and prayer in keeping with God’s plan. Also he says, “Without the wisdom of discernment, we can easily become prey to every passing trend.” (Christus Vivit n°279).
In addition, Joseph teaches us obedience to God. If he did not obey to God, he would have disgraced Mary by exposing what happened to her. Again, Joseph obeyed to God when he was asked to bring the infant Jesus and Mary to Egypt (cf. Mt2:13). Later, he was asked to bring them back; he obeyed too (cf. Mt2:19-20).
Jesus must have learnt to be obedient from Joseph, his foster father. In fact, Jesus obeyed; he became man; he abased himself, he annihilated himself. A Christian is a witness to obedience. It is not a witness to an idea, a philosophy, a business, a bank, a power, but a witness to obedience like Jesus (cf. Pope Francis, “Witnesses to obedience” in Observatore Romano n°19, 12 May 2017).
4TH SUNDAY OF ADVENT, YEAR A
“Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally” According to the New World Dictionary of the American Language, honour means “High regard or great respect given, received or enjoyed.” The gospel according to Matthew tells us that Joseph and Mary were engaged. And in Jewish culture, engagement is binding, and can be terminated only by death or divorce.
Certainly, Joseph was puzzled when he discovered that his wife was pregnant before he knew her. Thus, as man of honour, he did not want to lose the great respect he enjoyed by taking the pregnant Mary as his wife. Also he wanted to protect Mary from being stoned (cf. Dt22: 23-24). This why, he decided to divorce he informally.
Joseph was still discerning the suitable decision he could take when God intervened. Joseph was asked in a dream to not be afraid to take Mary home as his wife because she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. And he has to name the child: Jesus because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins. Then Joseph obeyed the angel without question. From Joseph, we can learn to be people of honour, discernment and obedience to God.
As people of honour, we need to respect others as they are; they are God’s creations. Let us remember this: “So always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that is the meaning of the Law and the prophets” (Mt7: 12).
Like Joseph we should always discern before making important decisions. For Pope Francis, discernment is reflection and prayer in keeping with God’s plan. Also he says, “Without the wisdom of discernment, we can easily become prey to every passing trend.” (Christus Vivit n°279).
In addition, Joseph teaches us obedience to God. If he did not obey to God, he would have disgraced Mary by exposing what happened to her. Again, Joseph obeyed to God when he was asked to bring the infant Jesus and Mary to Egypt (cf. Mt2:13). Later, he was asked to bring them back; he obeyed too (cf. Mt2:19-20).
Jesus must have learnt to be obedient from Joseph, his foster father. In fact, Jesus obeyed; he became man; he abased himself, he annihilated himself. A Christian is a witness to obedience. It is not a witness to an idea, a philosophy, a business, a bank, a power, but a witness to obedience like Jesus (cf. Pope Francis, “Witnesses to obedience” in Observatore Romano n°19, 12 May 2017).