A Jesuit Catholic University
in Omaha, Nebraska, since 1878

[194] Jer 23:5-8 Ps 72:1-2, 12-13, 18-19 Matt 1:18-25

Weekly Guide for Daily Prayer The Daily Reflections

I often feel like I need to act in a certain way to do the will of God. I believe that I must make a path for myself so as to follow God, yet Joseph shows me another way. As I read the passage from the gospel today, I find that Joseph follows the will of God in a much simpler manner. When he finds that Mary is pregnant with a child that is not his, he patiently decides to divorce her quietly so as to preserve her good name. In doing this he was probably even shaming himself because it would have been assumed that he was unfaithful to Mary and that was the reason for the divorce. Yet an angel of the Lord intervenes and explains that this child is not of another man, but of God, and that he should still take Mary as his wife and raise this child.

Joseph’s faith in God’s plan and his willingness to hear God’s word in his life is a message for us all. Even in circumstances that seem beyond our knowledge, God is working. He is working for our benefit, for our good, and because he loves us. As Jesus will be named Emmanuel, God promises that he is with us. Let us listen to the voice of God in our lives before we try to fix the problems of this world by ourselves.