18th. FRIDAY IN WEEK 3 OF ADVENT

Firs reading: Jeremiah 23:5-8

A righteous Branch who will rule with wisdom and Justice

"The days are surely coming," says the Lord, " when  I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: " The Lord is our righteousness."

" Therefore, the days are surely coming," says the Lord, " when it shall no longer be said, " as the Lord lives who brought the people of Israel up out of the land of Egypt, " but " As the Lord lives who brought out and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the land of the north and out of all the lands where he had driven them." Then they shall live in their own land."

Gospel: Matthew 1:18-25

Joseph is told of the conception of Jesus, who will save his people from their sins

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with the child from the Holy Spirit. He husband Joseph, being a righteous man and willing to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, " Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son , and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: " Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son , and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means, " God is with us." When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him ; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son;  and he named him Jesus.

REFLECTIONS AND MEDITATIONS ON THE READINGS

The role of Joseph

Today's gospel we hear about St. Joseph. In the New Testament and in the story of Christmas, St. Joseph plays a minor role. Nothing is recorded about what he said after the angel of God asked him not to be afraid of taking Mary as his wife after  he found out that Mary was pregnant. He disappeared from the gospel scene before Jesus is baptized and is never heard again.

St. Matthew the evangelist reveals to us a new understanding of what it means to be righteous before God. For the Jews to be righteous means following the law to the very last detail. In fact, the Pharisees believed and taught that if every Jew would just follow the law God had given to Moses, the Kingdom of God would be realized. St. Matthew makes St. Joseph as an example of this new understanding of what it means to be righteous before God. The evangelist calls St. Joseph a righteous man or he is one who is good and has a good rapport with God. As the good Jew, the law obliged him to report Mary to the authorities who would  hand down judgment for Mary  to be stoned to death. Instead of reporting  Mary to the authorities, he decided to leave Mary secretly because he did not want her to be put to shame. This is the reason why St. Matthew calls St. Joseph a righteous man. 

This is the new meaning of being righteous, that is to be sensitive to the needs of our neighbor, to let our heart bleed for our neighbor and to love our neighbor.

St. Joseph being qualified by St. Matthew the evangelist as a righteous person means, St. Joseph obeys the will of the Father. He takes Mary as his wife. He says, " Yes" to God's plan to be the only legal father of the Child to be born.  His yes is necessary to give the Child a name and adopt Him as his own as a loving foster father, protect the Child from any harm.

In this Advent season, we are invited to reflect on our own sensitivity to the needs of others and our obedience to the will of the Father. We must learn from St. Joseph to become men and women for others and obedient children of God. And so righteous person is the one  who makes these words of Jesus as his/her guiding principle: " Whatever you do to the least of your brothers/sisters, you do it also to me." Jesus has identified himself with our neighbor, let us always remember