Friday, March 19, 2010

A Man of Honour

Feast of St. Joseph, Husband of Mary.

SCRIPTURE
Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally.
Matthew 1:19


OBSERVATION
Joseph has just learnt that his betrothed is pregnant, and he knows the child isn't his...  I often overlook the trauma this must have been for Joseph.  All his dreams for a future with a faithful wife, the family they would raise... shattered. The miracle is that he didn't react out of his pain and at the very least have Mary publicly humiliated.  But he gave up his rights and was going to divorce Mary quietly "to spare her...".  This says something about the depth of character of the man.  God entrusted to Joseph His two most precious things, His son and the mother of His son.  God new Joseph had steady hands, that he was "a man of honour".


APPLICATION
Oh to be recorded in the Book of Life as a "Man of Honour".  The little that is recorded of the man Joseph is still enough to make him my hero.  What a role-model. Today I hold up Saint Joseph before me as a reference point for how I live my day as a husband, as a father, as a man... as a man of honour.


PRAYER
Saint Joseph, please pray for me.




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