Coffee With God

Reflection: Matthew 1:18-25

In today’s Gospel, the theme of God’s closeness to humanity is the focal point. It shows us the two people who, more than anyone else, were involved in this mystery of love: the Virgin Mary and her husband, Joseph. the Gospel (cf. Mt 1:18-24) guides us to Christmas through the experience of St. Joseph, a person who is apparently in second place, but whose attitude contains the entirety of Christian wisdom. He, together with John the Baptist and Mary, is one of the people that the liturgy proposes to us for the time of Advent; and of the three he is the most modest. One who does not preach, does not speak, but tries to do God’s will. The text that follows tells us of his dream and he gets a message. What a courage does he display to believe something that he saw in a dream! This text can be considered as the Annunciation to Joseph. Joseph is a just man because he is capable of discovering the finger of God in the mysterious happenings within and around him. How often do we get angry, scared and frustrated because we have no clue of things that happen in our lives, in our families or work places. If only we could go to Joseph of the Gospels and listen to his gentle whispers in our ears. Joseph will have only one message for us: “Be Calm, God is in control” In a year that we may feel darkened by a pandemic, lack of access to the Sacraments, civil unrest, natural disasters, not to mention all the ills we continue to witness, attacks on marriage, human life and the family, St. Joseph is providentially offered to us as a sign of God’s constant kindness and tender love for humanity. As St. Joseph guarded, defended, and protected the Holy Family, so does he guard, defend, and protect the family of Christ, each of us. When Pope Francis declared the Year of St. Joseph last year, he invited all the faithful to walk with St. Joseph to emulate his virtues by discovering his “hidden life.” In the Gospels, Joseph does not speak a word, he is silent. But he followed the promptings deep with in – the messages in dreams. Let us put it this way: He accepted the promptings of his heart as God’s messages and surrendering him totally to God’s will, he made all important decisions for Mary and for Baby Jesus. And God blessed his decisions. When we live for God, he blesses our lives.