Are you obedient to the will of God?

My Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

“An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.’” In today’s Gospel (Matthew 1:18-24), we hear the story of Joseph. He has just found out that Mary is pregnant with Jesus and being a just man and not wanting to shame Mary, he resolves to divorce her quietly. But an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” When he woke up he did as he was commanded by the angel. This story has two great messages. The first message is the willingness of Joseph to obey the will of God. His fiancé is pregnant and they are not married. How embarrassing that would be for his wife to be to be pregnant and they were not married. Yet Joseph listened and obeyed the angel of God. The second message, which is more subtle in this Gospel reading, is the faith and trust of Mary. Mary also has to trust in God and have faith that he will take care of her and provide for her. In the time of Christ, Mary would likely have been stoned or cast out of the community. This was a huge commitment by both.

We too are called to be obedient to the will of God no matter what he asks us to do, no matter how embarrassing, and no matter how uncertain the outcome. The Holy Spirit comes down upon us and gives us many gifts wrapped in strange packaging. We are called to use those gifts to spread the word of God, to make way for the Kingdom of God. We are also called to have great trust and faith in God. We need to trust that he knows what he is doing. During the Christmas season, it is so easy to get caught up in the materialistic aspects of “All I want for Christmas is…” when I should be saying yes to the angel of God when he calls. During the advent season, we should take the time to reflect on the gifts which God has given us and give him thanks and praise for these gifts are given to us freely without any expectations of return. We should reflect on our talents which were given to us by God and decide whether we are using them how he intended us to us them. The Christmas season is not about the material gifts that we receive on Christmas Day but about the spiritual gifts which are wrapped up in the paper of the Holy Spirit. We should celebrate the family that we have and blessing that we were given. We should celebrate the gift of Christ in our lives. Once we accept these gifts from God, we can truly appreciate the other gifts which we will receive this Christmas.

A Simple Prayer God, you give me more graces than I deserve. Give me the strength to use those gifts to your satisfaction. May I have the obedience of Joseph and the faith of Mary To use the gifts which you have given me. Your son was the greatest gift of all for he came to forgive us our sins. May I also forgive those who sinned against me.

Yours in Christ Michael Marcon