Pope Francis said during Angelus on Sunday (December 22) that in a difficult situation, St. Joseph put his whole trust in God and was obedient.
According to the Pope, this is an example for all Catholics to imitate, reported the Catholic News Agency.
The news organization reported Pope Francis saying that St. Joseph “does not preach, does not speak, but tries to do the will of God; and he does it in the style of the Gospel and of the Beatitudes”.
“The example of this meek and wise man urges us to lift our gaze and push further,” the Pope said in the report.
“It is a matter of recovering the surprising logic of God who, far from small or large calculations, is made of openness to new horizons, towards Christ and his Word,” the head of the Catholic Church said.
In his catechesis, the report recalled, the Pope reflected on the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, when St. Joseph and the Virgin Mary are betrothed but not yet living together as husband and wife, and Mary becomes pregnant by the Holy Spirit.
“On this fourth and last Sunday of Advent, the Gospel,” Pope Francis said, “guides us towards Christmas through the experience of Joseph, of Saint Joseph, a figure apparently of secondary importance, but in whose attitude is enclosed all Christian wisdom.”
In the Gospel, St. Joseph finds himself in “a humanly embarrassing and conflicting situation,” Pope Francis noted.
In this surprising situation, however, though Joseph is troubled, he does not react in “an impulsive and punitive way”, reported the Catholic News Agency.
St. Joseph “seeks a solution which respects the dignity and integrity of his beloved Mary.”
The Pope explained that St. Joseph “knew well that, if he had denounced his betrothed, he would have exposed her to serious consequences, even to death. He has full confidence in Mary, whom he has chosen as his bride. He does not understand, but looks for another solution.”
So, “with great suffering, he decides to detach himself from Mary without creating scandal,” Francis said.
This is when the Angel of the Lord intervenes to say that this solution is not the solution willed by God, however. “The Lord opens a new path of union, love and happiness to him,” the pope said.
And learning the truth about the child in Mary’s womb “Joseph totally trusts God, obeys the Angel’s words and takes Mary with him.”
It was precisely “this unwavering trust in God,” the Pope argued, which “allowed him to accept a humanly difficult and, in a certain sense, incomprehensible situation.”
Through faith, St. Joseph understands that the child in Mary’s womb is the Son of God, and that he is to assume the responsibilities of earthly fatherhood over him, Pope Francis argued.
“May the Virgin Mary and her chaste husband Joseph,” he prayed, “help us to listen to Jesus who comes, and who asks to be welcomed in our projects and choices.”