Today’s Reflection
Gospel: Mt 1: 18-24
December 18, 2022 | Sunday

Today’s Gospel

This is how Jesus Christ was born: Mary his mother had been given to Joseph in marriage, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.

Then Joseph, her husband, made plans to divorce her in all secrecy. He was an upright man, and in no way did he want to disgrace her.

While he was pondering over this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She has conceived by the Holy Spirit, and now she will bear a son. You shall call him ‘Jesus’ for he will save his people from their sins.”

All this happened in order to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and he will be called Emmanuel, which means: God-with us. When Joseph awoke, he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do, and he took his wife to his home.

Today’s Reflection:

God works in mysterious ways. When He uses us, we cannot but be amazed by how He takes the initiative to bring us to the fullness of life. This is what happened to Joseph and Mary. Despite their lack of full understanding God’s plan for them, they humbly and freely accepted it and totally submitted themselves. We, too, are being used by God to fulfill his will. Each day, as long as God is the center of our lives, we will be amazed by the mysterious designs that God has set for us. Human understanding may not be able to grasp it perfectly, but only through total surrender to God will the mystery be fully revealed in our lives. In any case, it is not for us to know the reason. It is allowing God himself to work in us. /Vulnerasti, 2022