MONDAY DECEMBER 18, 2023
THIRD WEEK OF ADVENT YEAR B
Jeremiah 23:5-8
Matthew 1:18-24
IN SALVATION HISTORY EVERYONE HAS AN ASSIGNED ROLE
The human person stand before God as agents, collaborators, messengers and faithful witnesses. God did not create us to be idle or useless or inactive. God assigns roles, tasks and positions to every man to play and carry out especially in salvation history, in the world and in every situation man finds himself.
In the first reading, the prophet Jeremiah speaks of the coming messiah and details how this messiah was coming to bring salvation to Israel and Judah. “In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely.” And the critical question is how. And the prophet goes ahead to say that God will raise a branch from David. And this branch shall live in righteousness, truth and love and execute justice. In his words, ““Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.”
The coming of the messiah was for a reason, to help mankind, to redeem mankind and to raise mankind to the status of righteous nations and faithful people of God.
The part to be played by mankind for whose sake this plan of God is designed is not to be left idle. Man is to be found working also according to assigned roles and functions.
Joseph had a role, Mary was given a role, even his disciples were all assigned different roles. In the case of Joseph, our gospel passage of today recalls the special role of Joseph which runs counter to human reasoning, dignity, pride and logic. That Joseph was asked to accept Mary as a wife even when she was pregnant with the child Jesus.
The medium of transmission of this message to Joseph was in a dream and Joseph being a humble, sincere and gentle person accepted this role, though difficult and against human logic and reasoning.
Our roles and parts in the salvation of the human race sometimes can have this thorny twist assigned to us. Some have been assigned the role of being priests or sisters or financiers or foot workers or evangalists or catechists or lay faithful in the capacity of contributing meaningfully to the commands of our God.
What matters most to God is our understanding of our roles and particularly are willingness to accept our role and further the works of salvation willingly, freely and generously. Joseph was assigned the role of the husband of Mary, and Foster father of Jesus. He accepted the role, he gave himself to it and he never weavered but carried it to the end giving Jesus the necessary conditions for the evolving of his mission and task as our saviour.
We must also be encouraged and inspired to accept roles assigned us in the world as faithful collaborators with others in the work of seeking our salvation and helping to bring the message of Christ to the nook and cranners of the World.
God our Father, in the life of Joseph, we see a faithful, humble and sincere collaborator in the work of salvation. Grant us the same spirit and inspiration to accept our calling, to invest our energy and resources in the work of saving souls. May the joy, peace, happiness and eternal rewards of working and collaborating in the work of salvation live with us both now and forever through Christ our Lord.
Fr Norbert Uchuno
