When Heaven Crashes With Earth | March 19, 2016

March 19, 2016

St. Joseph’s Day is one of my favorite feast days of the year. Joseph had every right to divorce Mary due to her unexpected pregnancy. Those looking in from the outside only saw the result of what must have been an illicit affair and explaining a visit from an angel, a call from God, or an overshadowing from the Holy Spirit was totally not going to fly in Joseph and Mary’s culture. It would also never fly in our modern culture. When heaven crashes with earth it does cause division to a certain extent, I mean just look at Jesus’ life, he was causing controversy everywhere and his message was always love, love, love, but somehow people found scandal in that. Some things are too deep, too wide, too profound, or too pure for this world and when we get a glimpse of such things, we become suspicious and it starts to mess with our inner compass…it is good or is it from somewhere else? Like a few weeks ago in the gospel when Jesus was healing people and the religious leaders turned that good action into being powered by the wrong force. I totally get it, but I’m not going to lie, I wish it wasn’t so.

I wish that we could see the foretaste of heaven that God is constantly “annunciating” in our lives through mountain top experiences, deep friendships, sacrament, sunrises, poems, songs, tenderness, heart to hearts, and know that “thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” is a concept that Jesus himself taught us to pray for every single day. Every now and then I see a glorious unfolding when mercy is exercised or forgiveness (70x7) or loving those that seem unlovable or fighting for what’s right or standing up for the innocent or going against the world’s standards or pressing through the darkness, and it is those hints of heaven on earth that remind me that followers of Christ are called above the standard, called out of this culture, called to behave differently. Joseph shows us what that means, risking his life, his reputation, his livelihood, his social status, his everything really, to trust the Lord’s plan for their lives, as crazy and controversial as it seemed from everyone’s point of view, he trusted. I know for a fact that I lack that kind of trust, however recent experiences have helped me grow in that virtue and I am learning that it is in our trials that God sends us angels of truth, messengers of grace, and heralds of goodness to be able to do the right thing, however difficult that may be. 

Today I pray that we can have the audacity of St. Joseph and when heaven crashes into us, we will know it and recognize it as a call to live and love above. Have a blessed day.

Solemnity of Saint Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Lectionary: 543

Reading 1 2 SM 7:4-5A, 12-14A, 16

The LORD spoke to Nathan and said:
“Go, tell my servant David,
‘When your time comes and you rest with your ancestors,
I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins,
and I will make his kingdom firm.
It is he who shall build a house for my name.
And I will make his royal throne firm forever.
I will be a father to him,
and he shall be a son to me.
Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me;
your throne shall stand firm forever.’”

Responsorial Psalm PS 89:2-3, 4-5, 27 AND 29

R. (37) The son of David will live for ever.
The promises of the LORD I will sing forever;
through all generations my mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness,
For you have said, “My kindness is established forever”;
in heaven you have confirmed your faithfulness.
R. The son of David will live for ever.
“I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
I have sworn to David my servant:
Forever will I confirm your posterity
and establish your throne for all generations.”
R. The son of David will live for ever.
“He shall say of me, ‘You are my father,
my God, the Rock, my savior.’
Forever I will maintain my kindness toward him,
and my covenant with him stands firm.”
R. The son of David will live for ever.

Reading 2 ROM 4:13, 16-18, 22

Brothers and sisters:
It was not through the law
that the promise was made to Abraham and his descendants
that he would inherit the world,
but through the righteousness that comes from faith.
For this reason, it depends on faith,
so that it may be a gift,
and the promise may be guaranteed to all his descendants,
not to those who only adhere to the law
but to those who follow the faith of Abraham,
who is the father of all of us, as it is written,
I have made you father of many nations.
He is our father in the sight of God,
in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead
and calls into being what does not exist.
He believed, hoping against hope,
that he would become the father of many nations,
according to what was said, Thus shall your descendants be.
That is why it was credited to him as righteousness.

Verse Before The Gospel PS 84:5

Blessed are those who dwell in your home, O Lord;
they never cease to praise you.

Gospel MT 1:16, 18-21, 24A

Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary.
Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.

Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
but before they lived together,
she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.
Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.
Such was his intention when, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
“Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.
For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her.
She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins.”
When Joseph awoke,
he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him
and took his wife into his home.