Readings: Jeremiah 23:5-8
Matthew 1: 18-24
“Joseph, son of David, do not
be afraid
to take Mary your wife into your home."
Yesterday, we learned that from the
genealogy of Jesus, the God made-man has been
given a particular historical context He has a lineage point to and a family to
belong to. But as we know, Jesus is not only human, he is divine, too. Let us,
then meditate on the two aspects of Christ’s sonship in relation to the Holy
Spirit through whom he was conceived and in relation to Joseph who stands for
his human fatherhood.
1. " It is through the Holy
Spirit that this child has been conceived in her.
“ First and foremost, let us not try to understand the role of the Holy
Spirit according to pure human standards. There is no way of understanding the
role of a male character be fathering Jesus that can be attributed to the Third
Person of the Trinity. On the first place, even in biblical literature, the
Holy Spirit is not masculine in gender but either feminine (in Hebrew) or
neuter (in Greek). So, a better understanding can perhaps be drawn if we take
the role of the Third Person of the Trinity in the economy of salvation as our
basis for reflection.
In the Bible, the personifications
of the Father and the Son are quiet easy to think and imagine. More often and
more likely, they are portrayed to us in human form. But this is not so in the
case of the Holy Spirit. Unlike the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit is not
portrayed in a more sensible human form. Perhaps, the only sensible images of
the Holy Spirit, which we may usually think
of or associate with is the figure of a dove (which appeared at Jesus' baptism,
cf Mt 3:16) or the tongues of fire (which
descended upon the apostles on Pentecost, cf Acts 2:1-4). But more often, the Holy Spirit is presented in the Scriptures
as a principle or a divine agent that works not sensually but spiritually. So,
the Holy Spirit is that breath which gives
life (cf Gen 2:7; Ps 104:29-
3o), the energy that propels the courage of the prophets, that principle, which
animates Jesus in his ministry, and which Jesus himself gives to his apostles
after the resurrection (cf Jn 20:22; Acts 1:8). And in the relationship itself
of the Blessed Trinity, the Holy Spirit is that infinite and unfathomable love
which binds the Father and the Son in perfect unity.
It is in such context that we understand Mary as the virgin who conceived through the Holy Spirit. We must
not falsely think that Mary’s conception was
something sexual. The fruit in Mary's womb proceeds
from the creative love of the Divine Person of the Holy Spirit such that Jesus, the Son,
is also a Divine Person. Nonetheless, we, Catholics, are firm in faith that Mary's virginal conception is not just a
matter of a theological statement but also a matter of fact.
2. "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.” It is
precisely at this difficult human situation of Mary
that the irreplaceable role of Joseph enters. The virginal conception of Mary was out of the Jewish vocabulary. Nobody
would believe that. Nobody would dare take
it, even as an excuse. Even Joseph himself would
be tormented with this dilemma and would decide to divorce her secretly. But
behold, the divine intervention comes to calm Joseph down And perhaps, it was again the touch of the Holy
Spirit that would soften Joseph's heart and broaden his mind to accept
the great unfolding of the Incarnation.
However, it is the response of the human Joseph that makes his role
exemplar and meritorious. The gospels call Joseph as a just man, meaning a righteous person. This
righteousness of Joseph seems to found
itself on his consistent submission and obedience to the will of God, not minding how difficult the situation he
finds himself in. But at this particular stage of his relationship with Mary, what seems to characterize
Joseph, as a righteous person is the virtue of kindness. Before that present status of Mary, Joseph seems to
refuse to entertain unkind thoughts about
Mary and makes no uncharitable judgment regarding the case - an attitude, which
can only come from a person with a kind heart. If
ever Joseph comes up with a decision to divorce her quietly, it seems not because of malice but more because of his
inadequate and uncomfortable thoughts and
feelings that he has no right over the child To
Joseph's kind evaluation, it would .be much better for him to give Mary the freedom
without any public trial. And this kindness of Joseph does not end with his
kind thoughts. Especially after the angel's revelation
Joseph becomes even much kinder. He
now takes Mary into his home.