For a few weeks now in my mind has been reverberating part of the Gospel reading from the Mass on Christmas Eve. There we heard
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.”
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said
through the prophet:
Behold, the virgin shall conceive 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.*
Before Our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Joseph lived together, he found out that she was pregnant. Perhaps from his perspective he felt that what he had been expecting had been ruined. Maybe he had been looking forward to a life of marriage with a devoted partner, and then was disappointed to discover that his wife was pregnant, seemingly by another man. He very well may have felt that his hopes had been dashed and shattered.
And so he planned to divorce her. He decided to end his and Mary's marriage.
Then God spoke. When Joseph was about to act, in effect God stepped in front of Joseph. God sent his angel to Joseph. The angel explained to Joseph that all was not lost. All was far from lost. Rather, through this unexpected pregnancy God came to save all who otherwise would have been lost.
Rather than all being lost, just the opposite was about to come true: all were about to be saved. Instead of a pregnancy unmasking a betrayal of infidelity, Mary, in her obedient and submissive fidelity to the will of God, had humbly assented to the miraculous intervention of the Holy Spirit, and thus had come to be expecting a child. The child in Mary had come to be through God Himself, through the Holy Spirit.
When Joseph thought that all he had come to expect had been ruined, in fact it turned out that God had a plan which was immeasurably glorious. God had a plan which was far better than anything that Joseph or anyone else could have conceived. God Himself was going to pay the infinite debt we owe to Him. As God explained to Saint Catherine of Siena, in committing sin, we offend God, who is infinitely good, and thus commit an infinite offense against Him, which none of us as finite beings could ever pay. God was setting in motion a chain of events, with the conception of Jesus in the womb of Mary, which would lead to our redemption, through the suffering and death on the cross of His Son, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
When events seemingly take a turn for the worse in our lives, what do we think? One friend of mine recently went through a painful breakup with someone who is now her ex. When we part ways with someone, of course we feel pain. We feel the pain of separation. I do not mean to suggest that we should not feel sorrow at parting with others. It is only human to feel sad when we part with others. When there is a parting of the ways in our lives, whether it be through a breakup, or the passing away of someone we love, in that separation we naturally feel pain and sorrow.
Yet we are also called to seek and find meaning in the pain we feel. God is always seeking to teach us, to help us learn, so that we may grow. God is always calling us back home to Him. He seeks to help us get there in a variety of ways, through pleasure and joy, pain and sorrow, depending on the need of each of us at particular junctures in our lives, according to His infinite wisdom. Are we open to learning what God wants us to learn, to become better people, to become more than we have been, to become who and what God has always intended us to be? Do we trust God to lead us to the knowledge of who we are meant to become?
To accept this invitation from God, we need to gain true self-knowledge. We must realize that we are nothing, a fact that is true for every person alive: without God, each and every one of us is nothing. In realizing our true identity, we simultaneously realize our actual identity in relation to God's true identity: none of us can reach God without His help.
To reach this point of realizing who we really are, and how we must completely trust God and rely on Him, we are called to much humility. We need to cast off the shackles of pride which separate us from God and from the plan He has for us which is far better than anything we can envision on our own.
When events unfold in our lives which we were not expecting, which seem to us to be ruining our lives, do we think of our own plans? I think right now too of another friend of mine who became homeless last week. Literally he has not had a place to call home since then. Yet since then he spent two days enjoying the generous hospitality of some thoughtful, kind and compassionate hosts in free accommodations with ocean views. There he enjoyed complimentary food as well. Having such blessings abundantly bestowed on him, perhaps he is seeing the beginnings of how God cares for us when we expect that all is lost.
Do we think about how God not only can, but in fact does, plan steps for us which lead us in ways far better than we could ever imagine? To admit and embrace how God can plan much better for us than we ever could, we are called to be humble. When we allow ourselves to be humbled, God assists us. God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.** Selah. I intentionally utilize that particular word, in that particular language, right now. Selah, used in Scripture, means to meditate upon what has been said. Again I say that God gives grace to the humble, which empowers those who are humble not only to survive, but, through the grace of God, to thrive in conditions which would otherwise break and crush the human soul. Thus, for souls who are humble, such persons are positioned to be at their best in the midst of inordinately stressful trials.
For someone who realizes that when life circumstances seem to be at their worst, the best can occur, such a person not only decides to endure severe and intense tribulations, but gladly welcomes them. This kind of person is joyous in the midst of what many would view as horrible misfortune. Such a person is grateful for such a fate, which many others would view as a sentence that one has been forsaken by God. Such people rejoice at such a turn of events because in their sure faith in God, they totally trust in Him. They know that God can do wonders far beyond what we could ever imagine in such circumstances. Selah.
* Matthew 1:18-25
** 1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6
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.”
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said
through the prophet:
Behold, the virgin shall conceive 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.*
Before Our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Joseph lived together, he found out that she was pregnant. Perhaps from his perspective he felt that what he had been expecting had been ruined. Maybe he had been looking forward to a life of marriage with a devoted partner, and then was disappointed to discover that his wife was pregnant, seemingly by another man. He very well may have felt that his hopes had been dashed and shattered.
And so he planned to divorce her. He decided to end his and Mary's marriage.
Then God spoke. When Joseph was about to act, in effect God stepped in front of Joseph. God sent his angel to Joseph. The angel explained to Joseph that all was not lost. All was far from lost. Rather, through this unexpected pregnancy God came to save all who otherwise would have been lost.
Rather than all being lost, just the opposite was about to come true: all were about to be saved. Instead of a pregnancy unmasking a betrayal of infidelity, Mary, in her obedient and submissive fidelity to the will of God, had humbly assented to the miraculous intervention of the Holy Spirit, and thus had come to be expecting a child. The child in Mary had come to be through God Himself, through the Holy Spirit.
When Joseph thought that all he had come to expect had been ruined, in fact it turned out that God had a plan which was immeasurably glorious. God had a plan which was far better than anything that Joseph or anyone else could have conceived. God Himself was going to pay the infinite debt we owe to Him. As God explained to Saint Catherine of Siena, in committing sin, we offend God, who is infinitely good, and thus commit an infinite offense against Him, which none of us as finite beings could ever pay. God was setting in motion a chain of events, with the conception of Jesus in the womb of Mary, which would lead to our redemption, through the suffering and death on the cross of His Son, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
When events seemingly take a turn for the worse in our lives, what do we think? One friend of mine recently went through a painful breakup with someone who is now her ex. When we part ways with someone, of course we feel pain. We feel the pain of separation. I do not mean to suggest that we should not feel sorrow at parting with others. It is only human to feel sad when we part with others. When there is a parting of the ways in our lives, whether it be through a breakup, or the passing away of someone we love, in that separation we naturally feel pain and sorrow.
Yet we are also called to seek and find meaning in the pain we feel. God is always seeking to teach us, to help us learn, so that we may grow. God is always calling us back home to Him. He seeks to help us get there in a variety of ways, through pleasure and joy, pain and sorrow, depending on the need of each of us at particular junctures in our lives, according to His infinite wisdom. Are we open to learning what God wants us to learn, to become better people, to become more than we have been, to become who and what God has always intended us to be? Do we trust God to lead us to the knowledge of who we are meant to become?
To accept this invitation from God, we need to gain true self-knowledge. We must realize that we are nothing, a fact that is true for every person alive: without God, each and every one of us is nothing. In realizing our true identity, we simultaneously realize our actual identity in relation to God's true identity: none of us can reach God without His help.
To reach this point of realizing who we really are, and how we must completely trust God and rely on Him, we are called to much humility. We need to cast off the shackles of pride which separate us from God and from the plan He has for us which is far better than anything we can envision on our own.
When events unfold in our lives which we were not expecting, which seem to us to be ruining our lives, do we think of our own plans? I think right now too of another friend of mine who became homeless last week. Literally he has not had a place to call home since then. Yet since then he spent two days enjoying the generous hospitality of some thoughtful, kind and compassionate hosts in free accommodations with ocean views. There he enjoyed complimentary food as well. Having such blessings abundantly bestowed on him, perhaps he is seeing the beginnings of how God cares for us when we expect that all is lost.
Do we think about how God not only can, but in fact does, plan steps for us which lead us in ways far better than we could ever imagine? To admit and embrace how God can plan much better for us than we ever could, we are called to be humble. When we allow ourselves to be humbled, God assists us. God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.** Selah. I intentionally utilize that particular word, in that particular language, right now. Selah, used in Scripture, means to meditate upon what has been said. Again I say that God gives grace to the humble, which empowers those who are humble not only to survive, but, through the grace of God, to thrive in conditions which would otherwise break and crush the human soul. Thus, for souls who are humble, such persons are positioned to be at their best in the midst of inordinately stressful trials.
For someone who realizes that when life circumstances seem to be at their worst, the best can occur, such a person not only decides to endure severe and intense tribulations, but gladly welcomes them. This kind of person is joyous in the midst of what many would view as horrible misfortune. Such a person is grateful for such a fate, which many others would view as a sentence that one has been forsaken by God. Such people rejoice at such a turn of events because in their sure faith in God, they totally trust in Him. They know that God can do wonders far beyond what we could ever imagine in such circumstances. Selah.
* Matthew 1:18-25
** 1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6
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