Today, the Church celebrates Saint Joseph, the foster father of Jesus. Saint Matthew tells us that Joseph was a righteous man (Mt 1:19). We are not told how old he was when Mary, his betrothed, was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit (Mt 1:18). This would have been an unimaginable embarrassment for anyone. Joseph would have been entirely within his rights to divorce her, yet because he wanted to spare her any undue attention, he intended to do so quietly.
That was the very point at which the next chapter in God's plan was made known to him: the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ... 'do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home (Mt 1:20). Because he was a righteous man, and because he was accustomed to listening for the inspiration of God's wisdom, Joseph followed the angel's advice and God's will was accomplished.
It took great humility on his part to allow his own will to be silenced so that the will of God could come to pass. If we have known the struggle of not wanting to cooperate with heavenly wisdom, but rather to impose our own will, perhaps we can pray today, asking Saint Joseph to strengthen our resolve to find room in our hearts to listen attentively for God's inspiration, and for the humility to allow God's plan to come to pass.
Have a great day.
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