REFLECTION ON THE DAILY GOSPEL AND READINGS 18 DECEMBER 2012

 

angelvisitsjoseph

Gospel Mt 1:18-25

Joseph was a strong and kind man, but finding out your wife to be was pregnant must have been too much to bear. When we are faced with problems that we cannot manage on our own, that is when God steps in to help. In this case the dream. It is interesting that the appearance of the angel occurred in a dream, not while he was awake and conscious. The dream must have been powerful and vivid enough that he knew it was a message from God and from that point on his vocation was sealed. He dedicated his life to God and the care of the Messiah and his wife Mary from that point onwards. I imagine Joseph as a practical man, caring and full of faith.

Let us consider how we react when we are faced with a challenge in life, and how we have overcome it with the help of God at our side. He will never give us more than we can handle, and with his help there is no limit to what we can manage.

REFLECTION ON THE DAILY GOSPEL 28 SEPTEMBER 2012

Peter responds with the answer that Jesus is the Messiah. This was not a concept at the time; the Jews were expecting God to return to deliver justice, but not expecting in the form of a man. Jesus warns the disciples of what is to come, and the pain He and they will go through to deliver mankind from sin. Imagine being a part of that conversation at the time of Jesus’s mission, with the apostles. Only Peter understood. We have the benefit of two thousand years of hindsight. Let us pray for others to understand, and to deepen our own faith.

REFLECTION ON THE DAILY GOSPEL 31 MARCH 2012

The prediction had been made and the Jews were informed of his mission. Nevertheless they decided that he was too dangerous to live. What must have been in their minds that they mistook the Messiah for a criminal. Or perhaps they knew in their hearts that he was the chosen one. We can only guess.