September 2

September 2

Jesus' Gestation -- Mary's pregnancy & Joseph's crisis: "How should I divorce Mary?"

Today's Readings:

Reading 1: Matthew 1:18-25

Reading 2: Deuteronomy 24:1-4

Reading 3: Isaiah 7:13-14

What an amazing man Joseph is!

Faced with a crisis (an apparently unfaithful fiancée) he determines to divorce her quietly rather than humiliate her publicly. But God speaks to him in a dream and shows him the plan for salvation (in which he is now a central component). And Joseph does not simply shake this off as a weird dream, but he goes ahead and does what God instructs him, at great personal cost (because everyone would know of Mary's "infidelity" from the timing of Jesus' birth).

Joseph was a man who cared more for what God said than what those around him thought. How about you and me? Can we say the same?

Have a great day!

Mark.