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Feel God’s Presence
6 min
Gospel
Mt 1:18-25
Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit; and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to send her away quietly. But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
“Behold, a virgin shall conceive and
bear a son,
and his name shall be called Emman′u-el” (which means, God with
us).
When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife, but knew her not until she had borne a son; and he called his name Jesus.
Readings are taken from Dynamic Catholic’s Bible: RSV Catholic Edition.
It’s time to take back your life.
It’s time to slow down to the speed of joy.
All revolutions have a moment when they begin. This is your moment.
Transcript
Feel God’s Presence
One of my favorite lines
in the gospels. And He shall be called Emmanuel, which means God is with us. God is with
us. Do you know that? Do you believe that? Do you trust that? Do you feel that? And when
you don't feel it, do you know that? Do you believe that? Do you trust that? Because
there's going to be a lot of times when you don't feel it. Stories of the saints, the
lies of the saints, full of examples, they didn't believe that God was with them, or
they doubted God was with them, or they didn't feel that God was with them. Our feelings
can be a horrible distraction from reality sometimes. Do you know it? Do you believe it?
Do you trust it? These are all things to focus on. Do we feel God is with us? Some days
we will and some days we won't. That's probably got as much to do with biology as it
does to do with spirituality, as much to do with psychology as it does to do with
spirituality. But knowing it and believing it and trusting it, that is all from life in
the Spirit, our walk with God. And then the other thing that struck me was how Joseph is
described. A few days ago, we had John the Baptist described as walking the way of
righteousness. And today we've got Joseph being a just man, unwilling to put her to
shame. What is the message there? I think about it obviously from a male perspective,
right? And I think about the poverty of manhood in our culture today. And I ask myself,
okay, what does it mean to be a man? Period. Just to be a man. And then what does it
mean to be a just man? And what does it mean to be a just man in this world at this
time? And then the other thing, right? The piece that comes after that. Joseph being a
just man and unwilling to put her to shame. There's so much shame in the world. There's
so much shame in our lives. I remember when I used to travel all the time. I'd sit down
each night and meet with people and sign books and it's amazing how many people are
gripped by catastrophic shame. And very often that shame cast on them not by God, but by
other people.
And Joseph being a just man and unwilling to put her to
shame. Let's think about that today. Let's think about situations where we inflict shame
on other people. Let's be extra sensitive not to fall into that trap. The trap of the
ego, to trap of the ego. It's a mean trap. And stay away from it. Have a great day, and
remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.
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