Home Daily Meditation Matthew 1, 18–24

Matthew 1, 18–24

by Fr. Michael Della Penna
Matthew 1, 18-24

Peace to all my brothers and sisters listening in today

Humility. Obedience. Purity

  1. Humility. When Saint Augustine was asked what the three most important virtues are he famously answered humility humility and humility. Joseph could be the poster child for humility.

    Being humble is being docile, that is being teachable and therefore always open to the Holy Spirit. We often seek to control things and this closes our hearts to being open to what God may want. I know I can become so irritable for the slightest reason -when something doesn’t go my way. If things don’t turn out the way I want, I can easily get frustrated or annoyed.

    Joseph on the other hand shows extraordinary heroic humility, which has been called the mother of all the virtues. When he discovers his bride is pregnant, He could easily have allowed his feelings to overcome him.

    Wouldn’t you have been angry and insulted and deeply hurt? Enough to want to strike back. Wouldn’t this betrayal automatically make you want you to get revenge? Not Joseph. He’s described as being a just or righteous man which tells us his heart, like Jesus’ was gentle and humble and filled with a goodness that came from his love of the law. Forgetful of self, Joseph wanted to do the right thing, even though he felt wronged. Mother Teresa said if you are humble nothing will touch you neither praise nor disgrace because you know who you are. If you are blamed you will not be discouraged. What a great lesson for us the next time we feel slighted or betrayed. To walk away quietly and be the bigger person takes an enormous amount of strength and humility.
  2. Obedience – Obedience is simply humble submission to Gods will. Another way of saying that, is having a certain detachment to our own will and thus open to hearing God calling. Joseph when he heard the angel speak listened. When he awoke he put it into practice. Although we do not have one word that Joseph uttered we have his beautiful example of how he lived his faith obediently in his actions.
  3. Purity What I really admire most about Saint Joseph is his chastity which means purity. A chaste person never wants to use another person but rather is one who is free to make themselves a sincere gift to another person. The key word here is freedom, which must be understood correctly in order to appreciate this amazing gift. Purity offers freedom from and freedom for. Purity not only frees us from the slavery of lust but frees for the possibility and purpose of loving. Purity sets our hearts free from using others in order to love them authentically.

    In these few days before Christmas let’s look to Joseph as a model of humility, obedience and purity and pray for his intercession

May God bless you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Always remember heaven is our goal!

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