Reflection (The readings are below, for your reference)
I am moved by today’s readings because each of them is the story of God’s presence in the face of disaster. Jeremiah speaks of justice despite exile. The psalm speaks of blessing despite poverty and violence, and the gospel, speaks about Joseph’s transcendent compassion, inspired by God’s dreams.
How are YOUR dreams guiding you today? Will you welcome God into your heart? Will you try to see possibility and love rather than judgment? This is a challenge for me, how about you?
Namaste! Amen!
The Readings
Jeremiah 23:5-8
The days are surely 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. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’
Therefore, the days are surely coming, says the Lord, when it shall no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives who brought the people of Israel up out of the land of Egypt’, but ‘As the Lord lives who brought out and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the land of the north and out of all the lands where he had driven them.’ Then they shall live in their own land.
Psalm 72:1,12-13,18-19
O God, with your judgment and with your justice,
endow the leaders.
They shall have pity for the needy and the poor;
they shall save the lives of the poor.
From oppression and violence they shall redeem them,
and precious shall their blood be.
Blessed be the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous things.
Blessed be God’s glorious name for ever;
may the whole earth be filled with God’s glory. Amen and Amen.
Matthew 1:18-25
Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel’,
which means, ‘God is with us.’ When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.
With one exception, the readings are from the website below, with adjustments to make the text more inclusive. The Psalm is from Psalms Anew, St. Mary’s Press, 1986.
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