Are You Wonderful?

St. Joseph’s is one of my family’s patron Saints because my Grandpa had a great devotion to him. He was a man of tremendous character and today’s gospel is one of his rare appearances in the story of Jesus. 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? 

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 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 have a friend at work named David who is a good ole boy from Tennessee, always properly dressed for dinner, and always the gentleman. He still wears a three-piece suit to church every Sunday and every now and then he will belt out a worship song in full voice right in the middle of a meal. He loves the Lord with all his heart. Whenever I ask David how he is he says, “I’m wonderful.” So one day I asked him, “Why are you wonderful, David?” He said, “Because I know Jesus Christ.” I then said, “David, I’m wonderful too, because I also know Jesus Christ.” So now when we greet each other we say, “David, are you wonderful?” and “Jennifer, are you wonderful?” We know the answer already because heaven has crashed with earth and we have Emmanuel. David is 97 years old and his trust in God is as deep as it ever was. This past Sunday his son didn’t come get him for church so he attended the Sunday service that I have been hosting and I was able to tell our story of how and why David and I are wonderful. The people at that service now have “wonderful” in their vocabulary in a new and beautiful way and heaven crashed with earth. Emmanuel: it’s a wonderful life. Are you wonderful? It is wonderful with my soul. 

Reading 1 JER 23:5-8

Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD,
when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David;
As king he shall reign and govern wisely,
he shall do what is just and right in the land.
In his days Judah shall be saved,
Israel shall dwell in security.
This is the name they give him:
"The LORD our justice."

Therefore, the days will come, says the LORD,
when they shall no longer say, "As the LORD lives,
who brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt";
but rather, "As the LORD lives,
who brought the descendants of the house of Israel
up from the land of the north"– 
and from all the lands to which I banished them;
they shall again live on their own land.

Responsorial Psalm PS 72:1-2, 12-13, 18-19

R.(see 7) Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king's son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out,
and the afflicted when he has no one to help him.
He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor;
the lives of the poor he shall save.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous deeds.
And blessed forever be his glorious name;
may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.

Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
O Leader of the House of Israel,
giver of the Law to Moses on Sinai:
come to rescue us with your mighty power!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel MT 1:18-25

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." 
All this took place to fulfill
what the Lord had said through the prophet:

Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,

which means "God is with us." 
When Joseph awoke,
he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him
and took his wife into his home. 
He had no relations with her until she bore a son,
and he named him Jesus.