When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him.
– Matthew 1:24
OBEY NOW
Through
the years, I’ve read and heard Bo Sanchez talk about investing and
entrepreneurship. As part of his advocacy on financial literacy, he has
been coaxing his readers and listeners to have their own business, to
get into real estate and the stock market, and not be afraid to fail.
I have to confess that I have not been quick to follow his advice all the time. But I know someone who is.
When Bo says, “Start a business,” she looks for a franchise and starts a small food chain. When Bo says, “Invest in real estate,” she goes out and buys properties. When Bo says, “Invest in stocks,” that’s exactly what she does.
Because she is quick to obey, she immediately harvests her profits. Her
food business is doing well. She now owns a number of properties. And
she has been earning from her stock investments.
Now I understand why the Lord wants us to be quick to obey His
commandments. We don’t realize it, but when we take our time in doing
what He tells us to do, we miss out on blessings that could have been
already ours. But the minute we obey, we reap blessings that we didn’t
know had just been there waiting for us. Rissa Singson-Kawpeng
1ST READING
The
prophet Jeremiah reminds you again that the Messiah will descend from
David via Judah. The Church wants us to know that the identity of Jesus
as Messiah was prophesied many times in the history of Israel. It is
good for us to see that the work Jesus did was something expected by the
Jews — it was part of God’s plan and not just an accident in history.
Jeremiah 23:5-8
5 Behold,
the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up a righteous
shoot to David; as king he shall reign and govern wisely, he shall do
what is just and right in the land. 6 In his days Judah shall be saved, Israel shall dwell in security. This is the name they give him: “The Lord our justice.” 7 Therefore,
the days will come, says the Lord, when they shall no longer say, “As
the Lord lives, who brought the children of Israel out of the land of
Egypt”; 8 but rather, “As the Lord lives, who brought the descendants of
the house of Israel up from the land of the north”— and from all the
lands to which I banished them; they shall again live on their own land.
P S A L M
Psalm 72:1-2, 12-13, 18-19
R: Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
1 O God, with your judgment endow the king, and with your justice, the king’s son; 2 he shall govern your people with justice and your afflicted ones with judgment. (R) 12 For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out, and the afflicted when he has no one to help him. 13 He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor; the lives of the poor he shall save. (R) 18 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous deeds. 19 And blessed forever be his glorious name; may the whole earth be filled with his glory. (R)
GOSPEL
Joseph
is a righteous man. It seems that he must have believed Mary’s
explanation for her pregnancy or at least did not want to disbelieve it,
as he chooses to walk away from her rather than demand that she be
punished according to the law. There are so many places where the plan
of God for the birth of Jesus could have gone wrong but it did not
through the holy responses of people like Mary and Joseph.
Matthew 1:18-25
18 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.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” 24 When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. 25 He had no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him Jesus.
REFLECTION
THE STORY TELLER!
We
are a week away from celebrating the birth of Christ and today we hear
Matthew’s version. Each of us has a story to tell. I wonder how you
would narrate your version of the birth of Jesus. Perhaps you can reflect today on how you would tell your story.
All of us are storytellers; for each of us are living lives pleasing to
God. Each of the Gospel writers tells their story according to their
community and social background. Let us open ourselves to understand the
greatest story ever told, that of God becoming man. I find the expression from Matthew’s Gospel consoling — that of “Emmanuel” or God with us. Since God is with us, we need not fear anything.
Let us turn to the Lord in this week of Advent and trust in Him. As we
gaze on the nativity scene we allow all doubts to disappear. Look at the
Infant Jesus. A baby comes to teach us not to doubt but to have faith. A
child’s innocence restores us in the love of God who has not abandoned
His people. Fr. Brian Steele, MGL
"Lord, come to me and do not delay. Remove all doubts and fears. Let me live again. Amen"
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