Take a minute to read the Nativity passage from the Gospel of Matthew.
Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means "God is with us."
When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. He had no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him Jesus.Pay particular attention to St. Joseph and his actions. Here's a man who is preparing to marry a beautiful and holy woman, Mary. He then finds out that she is pregnant with child, a child which is not his. Being an honorable man he chooses to divorce Mary quietly rather than turn her into a public spectacle which certainly would have led to her public humiliation, maybe even her stoning. This is the good and prudent thing to do, at least as far as human understanding can take it. And if St. Joseph had done the good and prudent thing then things would have gone completely different. St. Joseph was open to the deeper mystery of Christ, so open that an angel was able to speak to him in a dream and he was able to obediently live out his call to be the father of Jesus.
How about us? How often do we just do the good and prudent thing? We go to the staff Christmas party because we should. We will visit relatives because it's what we've always done. We shop for presents because it's what we do at Christmas time. We can go a long time doing the good and prudent thing and never reach the deeper meaning of Christ in our lives. In fact, we can so shut him out that we become the ones who determine what the good and prudent thing is rather than turning to God to experience the deeper reality of a life in union with Christ.
This Christmas, go deeper with Christ. Don't settle for the good and prudent thing, let Christ show you a deeper reality.
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