I FIRST HEARD THE FOLLOWING story when Father Peter Funisti used it in one of his homilies. I think of it frequently; it really helps with the question: why did Jesus become one of us?
ONE WINTER EVENING, DURING A fierce blizzard, a farmer looked out his window at a flock of geese that had been grounded by the sleet and the strong, driving winds. The farmer quickly grabbed his coat, ran to the barn and threw the barn doors wide open. BUT THE HARDER THE FARMER tried to herd the geese into the shelter of the barn, the more the geese scattered. “If only I could become one of them myself,” the farmer thought, “I could lead them into the safety of the barn.”
IN OUR GOSPEL TODAY, THE Word of God, the Eternal Son of the Father, has come among us and is a fetus, growing within the womb of the Virgin Mary. The long-promised “God-with-us” has at last entered time and space, becoming one of us, to lead us all into the safety of heaven, to show us the way.
BUT WE MUST TRUST!
THE VIRGIN MARY SAID “Yes” to God’s Plan of Salvation; this young betrothed girl has agreed to become pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. IN THOSE DAYS, BETROTHEL was much closer to our marriage. The couple were actually called each other’s “wife” and “husband.” And, to break off their engagement, a formal decree of divorce would be required.
AT THIS POINT, MARY IS extremely vulnerable. If Joseph decides NOT to go through with their marriage, Mary was liable to being stoned to death as an adulteress. But Mary trusted that God would take care of her.
IN TODAY’S GOSPEL, WE SEE Joseph’s dilemma of whether to marry Mary or not. He finally does believe the angel’s words, and trusts that God will somehow work everything out.
WE NEED TO TRUST THAT God cares for and cherishes each one of us just as much as He does Jesus and Mary and Joseph!
NO MATTER WHAT POINT WE ARE at in our lives: whether we’re still in school, or a young married couple raising children, a single person, or as we approach middle age with the aches and forgetfulness that surely will come, we need to trust in God, and especially during our journey through death.
JESUS CAME TO LEAD US INTO heaven and He shows us that there is indeed resurrection at the end of each of our own journeys, too.
TODAY, WE PRAY: “Lord Jesus, may we each attain to our future destiny which is union with You and the Father and the Holy Spirit in an ecstasy of joy for all eternity. Amen.
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