“The Righteousness That Comes from Faith” by Melanie Rigney
The LORD spoke to Nathan and said: "Go, tell my servant David, 'When your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins, and I will make his kingdom firm. It is he who shall build a house for my name. And I will make his royal throne firm forever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand firm forever.'" (2 Samuel 7:4-5a,12-14a,16)
The son of David will live forever. (Psalm 89:37)
It was not through the law that the promise was made to Abraham and his descendants that he would inherit the world, but through the righteousness that comes from faith. Romans 4:13)
When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. (Matthew 1:24)
Piety
Remember, O most pure spouse of the Virgin Mary, my beloved Patron, that never it has been heard that anyone invoked your patronage and sought your aid without being comforted. Inspired by this confidence I come to you and fervently commend myself to you. Despise not my petition, O dearest foster father of our Redeemer, but accept it graciously. (Memorare to St. Joseph)
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| Statue in front of the Cathedral of St. Joseph, Sioux Falls., SD where the author was baptized, confessed, communioned and confirmed. (By Melanie Rigney) |
Study
By outward appearances, he was just a regular guy, a carpenter by trade. He offered up two small birds for Jesus’s circumcision; if he’d been wealthy, the sacrifice would have been a lamb. His prestigious lineage—descended from King David—hadn’t seemed to have brought him much worldly gain.
In other words, he was the perfect person to serve as Jesus’s earthly father.
Joseph had to have been troubled by the strange requests and situations he faced—Mary’s unusual pregnancy, the urgent need to move to Egypt, the direction to move back to his homeland, the comments of Simeon and Anna at the presentation, the disappearance of his twelve-year-old son for three days. Why was all this happening to a simple, devout carpenter in middle age or older? And yet, whether through the reassurance of angels that appeared to him in dreams or through prayer, in each instance, Joseph obeyed, and moved forward.
I think that while Mary pondered a great many things in her heart, Joseph probably didn’t. Perhaps that’s why we don’t see his reaction to the Presentation or the finding at the temple. Perhaps by then, he had learned to take God’s plans as they came, without needing that angelic reassurance.
By outward appearances, most of us are just regular people—not famous, not fabulously wealthy.
In other words, we are the perfect people to serve as the Lord’s messengers.
Action
Consider a situation—perhaps caring for a loved one’s chronic illness, or your own—that at one time seemed impossible that you now manage without drama. Is there a way to share your embrace of that challenge with someone who is struggling?
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