1st Sunday

FIRST SUNDAY His sorrow when he decided to leave the Blessed Virgin; His joy when the angel told him the mystery of the Incarnation. INTRODUCTORY PRAYER O chaste spouse of Mary, great was the trouble and anguish of your heart when you were considering quietly sending away your inviolate spouse; yet your joy was unspeakable, when the surpassing mystery of the Incarnation was made known to you by the angel. By this sorrow and this joy, we beseech you to comfort our souls, both now and in the sorrows of our final hour, with the joy of a good life and a holy death after the pattern of your own life and death in the arms of Jesus and Mary.

GOSPEL READING | MATTHEW 1:18 – 2 5 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.” And this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel” (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.

REFLECTION “St. Joseph was an ordinary sort of man on whom God relied to do great things. He did exactly what the Lord wanted him to do, in each and every event that went to make up his life. That is why Scripture praises Joseph as “a just man” (Mt 1:19). And in Hebrew a just man means a good and faithful servant of God, someone who fulfills the divine will, or who is honorable and charitable toward his neighbor. So a just man is someone who loves God and proves his love by keeping God’s commandments and directing his whole life toward the service of his brothers, his fellow men” (Christ is Passing By, no. 40). Conclude by praying the Litany of St Joseph.