Vatican City - During the Angelus on Sunday, Pope Francis focuses on how St. Joseph received the Messiah as a gift from God and recalls that God may transform our most challenging circumstances into possibilities for new beginnings.
Sunday at midday, Pope Francis prayed the Angelus with pilgrims in bright St. Peter's Square, reflecting on the day's Gospel (Mt 1:18-24).
The Pope, focusing his remarks on the example of St. Joseph, highlighted that the man who would become Jesus' foster father likely began his engagement to Mary with nice, uncomplicated aspirations for his new life and family, such as a "affectionate wife, many magnificent children, and a respected job."
His news that Mary is expecting a child who is not his must have elicited "shock, pain, uncertainty, and probably even annoyance and disappointment."
As his aspirations and world crumbled, St. Joseph evaluated his alternatives under the Mosaic Law: either accuse Mary of her suspected infidelity or quietly cancel their engagement without exposing her to harsh repercussions, which would have placed the burden of shame on him.
Joseph chooses the second option because it is "the way of mercy," according to Pope Francis.
"And behold, at the height of his crisis, just as he is pondering and assessing all of this," said the Pope Francis, "God shines a new light in his heart. He reveals to him in a dream that Mary's motherhood was not the result of a betrayal, but rather the work of the Holy Spirit, and that the child who would be born is the Savior."
When he awoke, St. Joseph realised that, albeit in an unexpected manner, God was fulfilling in him the greatest desire of every devout Israelite: to be the father of the Messiah.
Pope Francis continued by stating that St. Joseph understood he would have to fully give himself to God in order to welcome Mary and her Son in a manner that was unprecedented.
“Joseph would have to renounce all reassuring certainties, his perfect plans, his legitimate expectations, and open himself to a future that he would have to discover.”, the Holy Father added.
The "just man" showed tremendous bravery by saying "yes" to God without any more assurances or conditions.
Pope Francis then turned to the modern-day lessons we might draw from this Gospel story, noting that we all have our own life objectives, which we frequently dwell on more around Christmas, even if they have not worked out as we had intended.
The Pope elaborated, saying that Joseph teaches us how to make sense of our dashed hopes.
It is not the right path for us to give in to bad emotions like rage or loneliness.
That's what he said. "Instead, we should open our minds and hearts to life's shocks, including catastrophes."
When faced with a difficult choice, we should "examine everything," like Joseph did, instead of acting on impulse.
Pope Francis came to the conclusion that God can intervene in our lives when we keep the door open to Him during difficult times because God is a "specialist in changing crises into dreams."
Holy Father also observed “God opens crises into new horizons, perhaps not as we would expect, but in the way that He knows how. God’s horizons are surprising, but infinitely more grand and beautiful than ours!”
-VN