Today's Gospel Meditation:

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.

What a beautiful testimony to Good Old St. Joseph...we spend so much time during Advent thinking about Good Old St. Nick that our world forgets that St. Joseph was the real hero in the Christmas story. As a catholic, I believe that Joseph and Mary had no relations and Jesus was their only son. This is a hard concept to understand if you didn't grow up with this belief, especially in our day and age when sex is all the world talks about. During Jesus' time their were some groups of people who didn't not share in a sexual union but lived a different marriage vow. St Joseph and Mary shared in a special marriage relationship which is different than any of our expectations.

THY WILL BE DONE!!! +JMJ+