Today’s readings present three patriarchs of the faith to us: Abraham, David, and Joseph. And to each, God makes and fulfills His promises in ways that are marvelous, mysterious, and almighty. In fact, God makes more than promises, he forges covenants. It requires swearing an oath that each side would uphold their end of the contract, and transgressions result in fatal consequences. We find ourselves too in a covenant relationship with Our God, and we find Him to be always faithful. And when we fail, our human failures are met with divine forgiveness and mercy. May we strive to be worthy of His forever love!
The Man from Ur
Covenant theology tells us that God in fact made three covenants with Abraham:
“I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the families of the earth will find blessing in you”. Gen 12:2-3
And Abraham clung to that promise, hoping against hope, decade after decade. If his hope was based purely on the cold light of reason, he would have scoffed like his wife, Sarah and given up in despair. Yet, God required this of him, and patiently, gradually, and infinitesimally, the promise unfolded. What shines is his steadfast trust in God, despite all odds; his unwavering commitment to obey immediately and precisely whatever God asked of him. Jesus extols him in the chilling parable of the beggar Lazarus who was consoled in the arms of this patriarch par excellence, the one who stands at the head of a long line of patriarchs. Our faith is so much richer because of Father A.
A Royal Priesthood
“Your house and your kingdom are firm forever before me; your throne shall be firmly established forever”. 2 Sam 7:16
God’s promise to David was of a royal kingdom and the gift of divine sonship. In fact, God pronounced David as a man after his own heart. But something that never fails to amaze me is that scripture details all of his exploits in equal measure, his glorious deeds and his glaring misdeeds with devastating clarity. We can look to David as a role model for being zealous in the Lord, of unwavering trust and obedience, and brilliant penitence. The Lord is My Shepherd, anybody? Or how about “Create in me a clean heart, O Lord”?
Son of David
The permanence of David’s kingdom is ushered in when the third of our patriarchs is greeted by the angel in our gospel today. For the mathematically inclined, that’s fourteen generations from Abraham to David and fourteen from David to the Babylonian exile and another fourteen from the Babylonian exile to Jesus. And it is fulfilled through “Joseph, Son of David,” who was the husband of the Theotokos.
One word that caught my attention was betrothed. Betrothal is a promise that a marriage will take place soon. And that promise was in jeopardy when Mary’s return from the hill country of Judah revealed that she was with child. Joseph is described as a righteous man, and he rightly decides to divorce her quietly – until the angelic intervention. Joseph, equally obedient like the two paragons we reviewed above, promptly did as the angel commanded. By his actions, he blessed all generations by bringing the Mother of God into his home, in whose womb rested the King of Kings. 33 years later, as the divine Lord was fulfilling His own promise, He followed in His foster-father’s footsteps and asked the beloved disciple to take Mary into his home, thereby installing her as the mother of the Church.
We can turn to our humble Saint Joseph for so many reasons; let me end this with a few promises, culled from his novena:
Pillar of families, pray for us.
Solace of the afflicted, pray for us.
Hope of the sick, pray for us.
Patron of the dying, pray for us.
Terror of demons, pray for us.
Protector of Holy Church, pray for us.
[Readings: 2 Sm 7:4-5a, 12-14a, 16; Rom 4:13, 16-18, 22; Mt 1:16, 18-21, 24a]
Good job as usual Patrick. Nana Maria would indeed be very proud of you.