HOMILY FOR THE CHRISTMAS DAY – 25TH DECEMBER
HOMILY THEME: THE BIRTH OF JESUS AND THE ROLE OF JOSEPH
BY: Fr. Cosmas Ukadike, CM.
Jesus was born as foretold in prophecy. Significant of God’s concern and delight for his people (Isaiah 62, 4).
Such that we may no longer be seen as forsaken, nor our land desolate.
St Paul refers to him as Saviour, (Acts 13, 23) that is; one who has come to restore hope to Gods children.
A prominent figure to help us reflect on the message that God has for us this Christmas is Joseph.
During the conversation between Mary and the Angel as presented to us in Luke 1, 26-38, we saw that Mary’s conception was not the handiwork of Joseph, but of the Holy Spirit. Mary must have been afraid to say this to Joseph perhaps she didn’t know how to go about explaining and convincing Joseph to believe her story.
But it happened that Joseph got to discover for himself and was deeply pained about it but, he didn’t want to disgrace Mary (Matt 1, 18) which could have been the popular opinion for such cases.
He was still reflecting on how to give Mary a soft landing by dismissing her QUIETLY, (1, 19) a sign of true love and respect for the other, even in the face of embarrassment.
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And that was not all, God sent his angel to speak to him on the state of Mary’s pregnancy and without any doubt or confrontation with the Angel, he accepted the condition of things as they are (Matt 1, 20).
Joseph stands as a role model to all Fathers and father figures in the family.
We can learn from him true love of our spouse and family and never for any reason openly or otherwise, bring disgrace or embarrassment to our spouse.
His role became that of a foster father to Jesus, so as to assist Mary in raising Jesus and bringing about a complete earthly family which consists of a father, mother and children. We must realize that this was not the kind of family life that Joseph had planned for himself and Mary, but since man proposes and God disposes, God therefore decided to dispose Joseph for another kind of fatherhood. This was God’s own plans for him.
As we celebrate this years Christmas, let something of Joseph’s life inspire us to bring about love, peace, joy, happiness and the rest of good fortunes to our homes.
Merry Christmas to you!
Fr. Cosmas Ukadike, CM.
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