朋友们，今天的福音的重心是若瑟这个引人入胜的人物。若瑟是最受人爱戴的圣人之一，出现在无数艺术品中而且是众多人灵修生活的重要内容。

 

我们对若瑟几乎一无所知，然而一些非常震撼人心的灵修主题却围绕着他而涌现出来。他与玛利亚已有婚约而且这段婚姻得到天主的福佑，然后他发现对方怀了孕。

 

他心里肯定是思潮汹涌，并且更进一步地说，那是一种精神危机。天主要他怎么做呢？然后天使出现在他的梦中对他说：“达味之子若瑟，不要怕娶你的妻子玛利亚。”在那一刻他领悟到这些令人费解的事情都是天主的宏伟蓝图的一部分。在他眼里的这一场劫难对于天主来说却是如此意味深长。

 

若瑟虽然对神圣蓝图的轮廓或其最深层次的目的一无所知，但他心甘情愿地参与合作。就像天使报喜时的玛利亚一样，他全心信赖，予取予求。

 

Friends, today’s Gospel centers on the intriguing figure of Joseph. Joseph is one of the most beloved of the saints, featured in countless works of art and prominent in the devotional lives of many.

 

We know almost nothing about him, yet some very powerful spiritual themes emerge in the accounts of Joseph. He had become betrothed to Mary and this union had been blessed by God. And then he finds that his betrothed is pregnant.

 

This must have been an emotional maelstrom for him. And, at a deeper level, it is a spiritual crisis. What does God want him to do? Then the angel appears to him in a dream and tells him, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home." He realizes at that moment that these puzzling events are part of a much greater plan of God’s. What appears to be a disaster from his perspective is meaningful from God’s perspective.

 

Joseph was willing to cooperate with the divine plan, though he in no way knew its contours or deepest purpose. Like Mary at the Annunciation, he trusted and let himself be led.