18-Dec-17

Gospel MT 1:18-25
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 be with child 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.
Reflection:
".....the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream......."
As people of God, we are called to go forward not in knowledge but in faith.
Is your imagination stretched to believe, to accept, that angels actually exist?
Or, that an angel would speak to a young girl and invite her to be the mother of the Son of God through the Holy Spirit?
Or, that an angel would appear to a man in a dream and say:
"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."
Sometimes I envy people who have blind faith. They speak with such certainty of things that I often need to stretch my mind to believe.
At other times, I am grateful I don't have blind faith because I think it is healthy to question our first inclination.
For years I have advised my children and grandchildren not to act on their first instinct, to take their time to think things through and pray for God's guidance.
My mind struggles when it comes to believing in those things that can’t be proven.
Do I believe God "inspired" the founding of My Brother's Keeper through the movie, "God Bless the Child?" If so, was the producer of the movie God's angel?
In the final analysis, faith is not a matter of proof; it is a matter of choice.
I choose to believe. But, my faith is weak.
I don't think God minds that my faith is weak.
I think all that matters to God is that I "act" on what little faith I have, and through my words and actions, I make His love known.
In the meantime, when my faith falters like the father who said to Jesus, "Help my son if you can!"
I, too, say, "I believe; help my unbelief!" (Mark 9-24)
"For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there”, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17:20