Doing God’s Will

18 Dec

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.”
All this took place to fulfill
what the Lord had said through the prophet:

Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,

which means “God is with us.”
When Joseph awoke,
he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him
and took his wife into his home.
He had no relations with her until she bore a son,
and he named him Jesus.  (Mt 1:18-25)

Most of the time, when speaking about the birth of Jesus, we reflect upon Mary, who said “yes” to God’s will and became the mother of Jesus.

However, all her yeses would have meant nothing if Joseph would have done what was available to him by law: have her taken out of town and stoned to death.

Joseph, however, was an upright man and would never consider doing such a thing.  He did consider, nonetheless, to divorce Mary and go on with his own life.

That was his decision and intention.

In a dream, Joseph was told by an angel to take Mary as his wife because she had not lied to him — she was with child through the power of the Holy Spirit and was bearing the Son of God.

Joseph did the will of God and took Mary as his bride and became the foster father of Jesus.

God has a plan for each one of us and each one of us has been given the free will to say yes or no.

FAITH ACTION:  In silent prayer this day, ask God to reveal His will to you and ask Him to give you the grace to say yes to His will.