Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent – March 19, 2010
Matthew 1:16 – 24
Jacob was the father of Joseph, who was the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.
Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.
This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
But after he had considered 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 home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" (which means "God with us").
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.
God is continually at work to bring about oneness. Our tradition says to us that union is the goal of the Christian spiritual life. We are being transformed over time, brought into union with God, others, ourselves, and the world. This is the action of God’s grace and mercy within us and in the world.
It is clear in Scripture – and I suspect that your personal experience bears this out – that this work of oneness and union is God’s work. We don’t have the tools to accomplish it. In fact, the brokenness and inability of humans to produce this oneness for themselves is a part of the human condition.
We don’t know what we most need in life to be fully human and most intimately connected to God. Further, even if we did know what we need for ourselves and for life with God, we would be powerless to produce it.
So God must accomplish this work. It is beyond human doing, beyond our capacity. We, as persons, are invited to participate in it. The invitation is open-ended. We may choose to participate, we may resist, or we may refuse.
In a word, we are invited to consent to the action of God within us. We are invited to consent to the reordering of our life-world. We are invited to consent by opening ourselves to the work of the Holy Spirit. We are invited to consent to God, allowing the Spirit to take the initiative. We are invited to consent to God, content to be a conduit through which God’s grace and mercy flow.
In Luke’s Gospel, Mary consents to what God is going to do in her and through her. She says, “Let it be to me according to your word.”
In Matthew’s Gospel, it is Joseph who consents, waking from the dream and doing what God has laid out before him.
Consent is a good word, a word of opening, allowing, and participating. It is a necessary word for those who desire more intimate awareness of God.
Jacob was the father of Joseph, who was the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.
Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.
This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
But after he had considered 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 home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" (which means "God with us").
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.
God is continually at work to bring about oneness. Our tradition says to us that union is the goal of the Christian spiritual life. We are being transformed over time, brought into union with God, others, ourselves, and the world. This is the action of God’s grace and mercy within us and in the world.
It is clear in Scripture – and I suspect that your personal experience bears this out – that this work of oneness and union is God’s work. We don’t have the tools to accomplish it. In fact, the brokenness and inability of humans to produce this oneness for themselves is a part of the human condition.
We don’t know what we most need in life to be fully human and most intimately connected to God. Further, even if we did know what we need for ourselves and for life with God, we would be powerless to produce it.
So God must accomplish this work. It is beyond human doing, beyond our capacity. We, as persons, are invited to participate in it. The invitation is open-ended. We may choose to participate, we may resist, or we may refuse.
In a word, we are invited to consent to the action of God within us. We are invited to consent to the reordering of our life-world. We are invited to consent by opening ourselves to the work of the Holy Spirit. We are invited to consent to God, allowing the Spirit to take the initiative. We are invited to consent to God, content to be a conduit through which God’s grace and mercy flow.
In Luke’s Gospel, Mary consents to what God is going to do in her and through her. She says, “Let it be to me according to your word.”
In Matthew’s Gospel, it is Joseph who consents, waking from the dream and doing what God has laid out before him.
Consent is a good word, a word of opening, allowing, and participating. It is a necessary word for those who desire more intimate awareness of God.
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