Trust

19 Mar

“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.
Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.
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.
She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins.”
When Joseph awoke,
he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him
and took his wife into his home.”  (Mt 1:18-24)

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and foster-father of Jesus.

This feast speaks very much about trust.

Mary and Joseph were thrust into a very unique position.  Mary became the virgin-mother of Jesus.  Joseph was asked to believe in the virginal conception and to care for both Mary and Jesus.

Much is written about Mary through the years.  Little, it seems, about St. Joseph.

Both were faced with huge dilemmas.  Mary, easily, could have said no to God.  That would have prevented many of their “problems”.  However, she was a faithful maidservant.  She had prayed for the deliverance of her people daily and she was not going to refuse to be a part of that deliverance if that was what God had requested of her.

Joseph was faithful as well.  As a matter of fact, when all was said and done, Joseph is one of the very few people in the scriptures — Old or New Testament — who was called “just”.

As a just man, Joseph had come to a very hard decision.

He had decided that he and his betrothed were over.

Mary told him she was pregnant, with the Son of God no less.

Joseph had a hard time buying that.

He knew his options.

The most popular option would have been to denounce Mary, have her dragged from the town and stoned to death.  But, Joseph was a just — and loving — man.  He had decided to divorce her quietly so that she could have a life of her own some day as well.

But an angel came to him in a dream and told him that all that Mary said was true and asked him to take Mary as his wife.

He trusted and did what many would have said was the unthinkable.  He became a faithful husband to Mary and a loving foster-father to Jesus.

Trust.

That is what it is all about.

You and I are called to trust the Lord this day.

FAITH ACTION:  We often plead to the Lord and “stick around” to make sure that God gets done what we requested.  Let us make a conscious effort to trust God this day, knowing that He hears our prayers and trusting that He will answer as He sees fit.  It may not be the way we want; but, we have to trust that God, indeed, knows what is best for us!