Devotional Thoughts for the Sunday of Annunciation to St. Joseph 16th Dec 2012
Reading: From the Gospel according to St. Matthew 1: 18- 25
Dear and Respected Brethren,
God Almighty sent His Angel to St. Joseph, when he had decided to put her away privately as he was not willing to make her a public example. St. Matthew attributes the quality of ‘just’ to St. Joseph by saying that he was a man of just. In Genesis 6:9 we read about Noah, who was just. In Deuteronomy 32:4 we read about God Almighty where it is said, “He is the rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are judgment, a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.” Job asks (Job 9:2) “how should man be just with God?” In Proverbs 3:33 we find, “God blesses the habitations of the just.” Again in Proverbs 4:19 we read, “path of just is as shining light.” In Proverbs 10: 7 it is said that the memory of the just is blessed. Again in 12: 21 we read that no evil will happen to the just.” Ecclesiastics 7:20 says: “not a just man on earth does sin.” Prophet Isaiah is of the opinion that the way of the just is uprightness and being just is the nature of God the Savior. (Refer Isaiah 26:7 and 45: 21) It is true that the man of just will live with good faith. (Kindly refer Habakkuk 2:4, Romans 1: 17, Galatians 3:11 and Hebrews 10: 39)
St. Joseph was a man of just, having sound faith, and he was in God and with God. Only because of his qualities, God had selected him as the care taker of St. Mary, the young woman whom God Almighty selected as a person to play a key role in His salvation program. The later incidents prove how wisely and nicely St. Joseph had undertaken the assignments in protecting the child of God and His mother. Considering and honoring his sacrifices and great mind to undertake various troubles for protecting the infant and the mother, the Holy Church honor him as the father of all the unknown saints,
St. Joseph was a man of just in word and deed and hence he could believe the words of the Angel without much thinking. The angel advised him not to fear to take Mary unto him for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. (Verse 20.) We cannot imagine how he was able to realize the full meaning of the words of the Angel. Verse 21 is a proof that St. Joseph had achieved a rare and unique gift to name the son of God. The Angel told him, “You shall call his name ‘Jesus’. Until incarnation of Lord Jesus, the people especially the Israelites had fear in pronouncing the name of their Lord God. They had the fear and faith to their God Almighty. Till recently there was a saying in Malayalam, “either one must have fear of God or the presence of his fellowman.”We are living in an era, when and where there is no fear of God and care for one’s neighbors. In our worships we are often reminded to worship God with fear. Let us think how many of us give heed to such precautions or exhortations? As authorized by the Angel, St. Joseph named the infant on the time of incarnation as Jesus, the Savior of the entire mankind and the entire creations. In Verse 25 we read that the child of the virgin St. Mary was named Jesus by St. Joseph at the time of the incarnation. It was according to the great and wondrous experience for the noble, simple and dedicated life of St. Joseph. When Angel narrated the quotation from Isaiah 7: 14 (Behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is “God is with us”) the mind of St. Joseph might have rejoiced in the Lord, as he was also thorough of the Holy Scriptures. By listening to these holy words, he might have been separated from his false thoughts and wrong decisions. We must appreciate his knowledge in the Holy Scriptures. Let us think how many of us are really interested in reading and meditating the Holy verses of the Holy Bible. Let us make sure that we do make use of the Holy Bible in building up our spirituality strong and solid. Our forefathers, though not much literate, were so anxious in learning and meditating the Holy verses daily, at least in the morning and evening. Many of us consider the prayer as a means to gain our personal needs only. We fail to understand the importance and need of prayers. We should not delay in regulating our styles of personal lives. Let us give prominence for the study and meditation of the Holy Bible and to pray to God Almighty as much as we could.
Verse 24 says: “Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him and took unto him his wife. Let us realize that in the place of Angel to St. Joseph we have been given the Holy Spirit to remind so many things to do and not to day. The only thing is that we must give heed to the Holy Spirit in us and must wake up from sleep and react according to the instructions and guidance of the Holy Spirit. We all are in a way or other in deep sleep and in a sort of imaginary world. Let us wake up and face the reality. We are supposed to be with God and in God, and this is the final reality. Let us try to be real Christians. After a few days we will be celebrating the incarnation of our Lord and Savior. Let our celebrations give us a charm and spirit of our spiritual revival. Let us try and hope to accept the incarnation of our redeemer in our hearts and minds. May God bless us all.
JoseKurian Puliyeril
Kottayam