We have all the reason in the world to believe, that the goodness and justice of God is such, as to make nothing necessary to be believed by anyone, which, by the help of due instruction, may not be made sufficiently plain to a common understanding.
- John Tillotson (1630-1694), Works of Dr. John Tillotson, v. V
("For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse." Rm. 1:20)
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2 SM 7:4-5A, 12-14A, 16; Ps 89:2-3, 4-5, 27 AND 29; ROM 4:13, 16-18, 22
MT 1:16, 18-21, 24A
Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary.
Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.
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.”
When Joseph awoke,
he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him
and took his wife into his home.
Reflection on the Scriptures |
What was it like for Jesus, Mary and Joseph in the home at Nazareth? What did they talk about? What was the shape of their daily life? The gospels never answer those questions, but that very fact allows us to imagine that, to a certain extent, life in that home was not too different from life in our own homes. Life in the home at Nazareth was an ordinary and
even obscure life; yet, God in Jesus chose to dwell there.
This simple fact, expressed so quietly in today’s feast, invites us to look around at our own home today, to believe that, in all of its ordinariness and perhaps even obscurity, it is a home where God chooses to dwell each day. May we today, through the prayers of Joseph, rejoice in the nearness of God who once chose to live in a human home, and chooses to do so today as
well.
- by Fr. Richard Gabuzda
Revelations of Divine Love
- by Julian of Norwich
Sixteenth Revelation, Chapter 72
"As long as we be meddling with any part of sin we shall never see clearly the Blissful Countenance of our Lord"
But now behoveth me to tell in what manner I saw sin deadly in the creatures which shall not die for sin, but live in the joy of God without end. And ever the more clearly that the soul seeth this Blissful Cheer by grace of loving, the more it longeth to see it in fulness. For notwithstanding that our Lord
God dwelleth in us and is here with us, and albeit He claspeth us and encloseth us for tender love that He may never leave us, and is more near to us than tongue can tell or heart can think, yet may we never stint of moaning nor of weeping nor of longing till when we see Him clearly in His Blissful Countenance. For in that precious blissful sight there may no woe abide, nor any weal fail.
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