ANGELUS TODAY
Benedict XVI invokes St. Joseph
on the Sunday before Christmas
19 DEC 2010 (RV) - Pope Benedict XVI today spoke about the foster-father of Jesus, St. Joseph, during the last Angelus address before Christmas.
“On this fourth Sunday of Advent, we are filled with joy because the Lord is at hand. We heard in today’s Gospel about the promise made to Joseph, that his wife Mary was to bear a child who would save his people from their sins. This child would be called Emmanuel, meaning that from now on, God is truly with us, he lives among us and shares our joys and sorrows, our hopes and our fears,” he said in his English remarks.
The Holy Father said that the Gospel passage presents Saint Joseph as a “righteous man” - faithful to God’s law, and ready to do his will. And he becomes part of the Mystery of the Incarnation, when an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and told him Mary had conceived by the Holy Spirit.
The Pope called on the Church to venerate Jesus’s lawful father, because in him we see the new man, who looks to the future with confidence and courage, who disregards his own goals, but entrusts himself completely to the infinite mercy of the One who fulfils prophecies and opens time to salvation.
Pope Benedict concluded his address by entrusting all pastors to Saint Joseph, universal patron of the Church, urging them to present through their own lives Christ’s words and actions each day to the faithful and to the whole world.
Here is a full translation of the Holy Father's words today:
Dear brothers and sisters,
On this fourth Sunday of Advent, the Gospel of St. Matthew recounts how the birth of Jesus came about, from the point of view of St. Joseph. He was the betrothed spouse of Mary "but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit" (Mt 1,18).
The Son of God, fulfilling an ancient prophecy (cfr Is 7,14), became man in the womb of a virgin, and this mystery manifests all at once the love, the wisdom and the power of God acting in behalf of mankind that had been wounded by sin.
St. Joseph is presented as 'a righteous man' (Mt 1,19), faithful to the law of God, ready to fulfill his will. And thus he enters into the mystery of the Incarnation, after an angel of the Lord, who came to him in a dream, announced:
"Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Mt 1,20-21).
Abandoning the thought he had of repudiating Mary in secret, he took her for his wife, because now his eyes saw God's work in her.
St. Ambrose comments that "Joseph had the amiability and the figure of the righteous man, making his quality as witness more worthy" (Exp. Ev. sec. Lucam II, 5: CCL 14,32-33).
"He could not," he continues, "have contaminated the temple of the Holy Spirit, the Mother of the Lord, the womb made fecund by mystery" (ibid., II, 6: CCL 14,33).
Although he had been profoundly disturbed, Joseph acted "as the angel had ordered him to", certain that he was doing the right thing. Even in giving the name of Jesus to the Baby who rules the universe, he joined the ranks of humble and faithful servants, like the angels and the prophets, the martyrs and the Apostles, of whom ancient Oriental hymns sing in praise.
St. Joseph announces the miracles of the Lord, bearing witness to the virginity of Mary, to God's freely given gift, and taking custody of the Messiah's earthly life.
Let us therefore venerate the legal father of Jesus (cfr Catechism of the Catholic Church, 532), because in him we see the new man, who looks to the future with confidence and courage, who does not follow his own plans but totally entrusts himself to the infinite mercy of him who made the prophecies come true and opened time to salvation.
Dear friends, to St. Joseph, patron of the universal Church, I wish to entrust all our Pastors, calling on them to offer "to the Christian faithful and to the entire world the humble daily offering of the words and actions of Christ" (Letter decreeing the Year for Priests).
May their lives always adhere increasingly to the Person of Jesus, precisely because "He who is the Word himself took on a body, he came from God as man, and draws towards him all of human existence to bring them into the Word of God (Jesus of Nazareth, Milan 2007, 383).
Let us invoke with confidence the Virgin Mary, the one full of grace who was 'adorned by God', so that at Christmas, which is almost upon us, our eyes will be open to see Jesus and our hearts can rejoice in this miraculous encounter with love.
In English, he said:
I greet all the English-speaking visitors and pilgrims here today. On this fourth Sunday of Advent, we are filled with joy because the Lord is at hand.
We heard in today’s Gospel about the promise made to Joseph, that his wife Mary was to bear a child who would save his people from their sins. This child would be called Emmanuel, meaning that from now on, God is truly with us, he lives among us and shares our joys and sorrows, our hopes and our fears.
As the great feast of Christmas draws near, I invoke God’s abundant blessings upon all of you, and upon your families and loved ones at home.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 19/12/2010 22:52]