Surrendering to God's Will and Living Out His Salvific Plan

 In today's Gospel, Matthew 1: 18-25, Joseph learns that  Mary, to whom he is betrothed,  is pregnant and he knows that the child is not his! Joseph decides to divorce her quietly, as he is "unwilling to expose her to shame."   It is not just shame to which Mary would be exposed. Being pregnant before one's marriage meant, in the Jewish culture,  that she is likely to be stoned to death. And,  "...behold, the  angel of the Lord appeared to [Joseph] in a dream and said, '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.' All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means 'God is with us.'"

What faith on Mary's part to have said 'yes' to the angel when she is asked to be the mother of the Messiah by the power of the Holy Spirit overshadowing her.  She is still left with the fact that her child was conceived out of wedlock. And what faith  on Joseph's part when he is asked to take Mary as his wife and, obviously, to become the foster father of a child that is not biologically his own. How do either one of them, humanly speaking, explain any of this to their families, their friends, fellow synagogue goers, or to anyone raising questions?

Saying "yes" to God's will, surrendering to God's plan for us, does not mean that suffering is not involved! And so it was with Mary, Joseph and Jesus: Herod's plan to kill the infant Jesus, Mary and Joseph's flight into Egypt to protect Jesus and living as foreigners for as long as needed, the loss of Jesus in the Temple, Joseph's death, Mary witnessing the fact that Jesus is rejected by the Scribes and the Pharisees and the rulers of the people, is betrayed by one of His apostles and denied by another, and ultimately is arrested and put to death by crucifixion!

Through all of the sufferings involved in surrendering to the will of God for us, as with Mary and Joseph and Jesus, God suffers and weeps with us!  It is God's presence, God's power, God's comfort, God's compassion, God's understanding that gives us the strength we need to cope in such a way  as to become strong in our faith, trust and love of God, self and others.