This reading from St. Matthew's Gospel about how it was that St. Joseph discovered Our
Lady to be with child and then carried his cross until the angel made it clear to him
how it was that she had conceived the son in her womb illustrates for us the way in
which both Our Blessed Mother and St. Joseph were even prepared for the mystery of Christmas.
Our Blessed Mother had to carry this cross as well.
Of course, Our Blessed Mother didn't need any purification or penance, but nevertheless
when God swept her into this great mystery, the greatest of all mysteries, the redemptive
incarnation, he asked her to suffer almost immediately.
If you think about the Annunciation when Our Lady consents to become the mother of God's
sons.
If you think about the Annunciation when Our Lady consents to become the mother of God's
son to the power of the Holy Spirit, she sees the angel and recognizes him as perhaps a
messenger of God and asks her one question, how will this be since I know not man, in
order to test the angel and see if he really came from God because she had a vow of virginity.
And so her one question was just to determine whether or not the messenger was from God
and then she listened to what the angel had to say and he was revealing to her the great
mystery, the greatest of all mysteries, in very, very brief language, monologue, really,
to Our Blessed Mother and he revealed the mystery that God wished to work in her.
And when he had finished what he had to say, she simply said yes and that was the end of
the Annunciation and Our Lady became the mother of God at that moment.
And so Our Lady's one desire was to discern what God's will was.
And when she had discovered it, she consented to it without question, without desire for
deep explanations or even to have her problem solved for her.
And the other interesting part about this is that as soon as she said yes to God's plan,
she was placed in a situation which she would never be able to explain to anybody.
And in fact, it's clear from the reading in today's Gospel that for whatever reason, Our
Lady...
did not try to explain it to Saint Joseph.
So she was pregnant without explanation and in a very short amount of time, everybody
would know it, including Saint Joseph, and they did know it and she had no explanation
and God had not explained it to Saint Joseph either.
And so, for example, in the Private Revelations to Venerable Mary of Agreda, it illustrates
in there how Saint Joseph was in this very impossible situation.
Because he truly was a just man and he knew the supernatural character of his union with
the Blessed Mother and he knew that she was holy and there was no way he could ever believe
that she had committed a sin.
And yet at the same time, he couldn't deny his eyes.
He saw her pregnant and she didn't explain it to him and for a time, God hadn't explained
it to him either.
So these two holy souls, the holiest souls who ever lived, one the Immaculate Conception
and the other the foster father, the one chosen to be the foster father of Jesus, were in
this unspeakable trial and yet both of them passed through the fire and came to the mystery
of Christmas, especially our Blessed Mother who knew what was going on.
She knew the consequences.
She knew the consequences of saying yes to God and what she would have to suffer for
it and she suffered it willingly out of love for God and in obedience to him.
So what we see in the Blessed Mother is great faith.
She believes God and she knows that if she follows his path that God will take care of
the details.
Even if she has to suffer, she knows that somehow things will turn out the way God planned,
and that will be better.
That will be best.
That will give him glory and that will be best for her and it will be productive for
the salvation of souls.
And as long as that was true, Our Lady was willing to do anything God asked.
I mean, she would always be willing to do what God asked, but I mean, that's the foundation
of our faith.
That's the foundation of our ability to say yes to God no matter what the cost.
It's very difficult, yes, it's true, but at the same time, if we're living in union with
God.
Especially if we're coming to receive Jesus in the Eucharist, we are being strengthened
to do this.
And so as we wait for the coming of Jesus and we have our own trials and tribulations
and temptations and crosses, we can reflect upon the faith of the Blessed Mother and Saint
Joseph and ask that we might have that same obedience and willingness to surrender to
God's will and to the mysteries which we cannot understand.
Amen.
Because in the end, Christmas is a mystery.
That God should become one of us.
That he should so love us to send his only begotten son into the world to dwell with
us and then to suffer for us is something that we cannot fully comprehend.
Something that we need to venerate in silence and on bended knee by disposing ourselves
to say yes to God no matter what the cost.
Because in the end, the cost is worth it.
Because what God has for us is a gift that is priceless.
His only begotten son, Jesus Christ, Emmanuel.
God with us.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
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Amen...
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
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Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.