Today's Gospel with Reflection

Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

Blessed are those who dwell in your house, O Lord; they never cease to praise you.

Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24 (or Luke 2: 41-51)

16 Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ. 18 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. 19 Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. 20 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. 21 She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 24 When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.

RIGHTEOUS MAN

Sometimes it pays to break up complex words and find their essential word unit or what is technically known as “morpheme.” Righteousness is a big word, both biblically speaking and linguistically speaking. This reflection does not set out to dissect its original Greek meaning as used by Matthew and the other evangelists. I am not qualified to do so.

But in my non-Greek frame of mind, righteousness begins with its simplest word unit, which is none other than “right.” Right in relation to, or in reference to what, we might ask. For this, one does not need linguistics or semantics. We only need to look at the evidence provided by the story of the Gospel passage.

Joseph, described to be a righteous man, was in between the proverbial horns of a dilemma. There was no clear way out to his predicament. His betrothed “was found to be with child.” The law was clear about it. But the righteous man Joseph was “unwilling to expose her to shame.” He chose the honorable way. He did the righteous thing. He “decided to divorce her quietly.”

If Joseph lived in the age of social media, there would be certain predictable scenarios. Mary would have become a viral story. She would have legions of haters and flamers, and Joseph, had he been the source of the viral story, would have been hailed as a hero of the wrong kind.

Joseph today is indeed hailed as a hero both by Scripture and by the Church. For what reason? He simply did not behave as predicted. He did not follow convention. He did not follow the mob. He did the right thing—the charitable and honorable thing. He did not resort to shaming or “outing” his betrothed. He not only loved Mary. He respected her and cared for her. For he knew her, not in a carnal way, but in a spiritual way.

Joseph was a righteous man. And righteous really begins with thinking right and doing right, following the standards of a right relationship with God. Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB

------- REFLECTION QUESTION -------

What traits of Saint Joseph do you want to emulate?

Lord God, thank You for giving us Saint Joseph as a model of righteousness. Amen.