Hoping Against Hope (Feast of St Joseph, Mar. 19, 2021)

-

 

INTRODUCTION

God is not man; He is God: an incomprehensible reality – a compendium of mystery – an unpredictable being. Now, when a man promises us something, we can somewhat predict how it is going to be fulfilled; our whole being becomes conditioned by the words and terms of the promise (man’s) and a certain level of expectation builds up in our minds (an expectation of when, how and where it is going to be fulfilled). The promise of man conditions you to believe that it will be at an exact time and in an exact manner. And that’s why it becomes emotionally catastrophic for certain persons when things do not happen as they expected. That’s the feeling that we can have when we place our trust on man, a predictable and fickle being. But when God (who is mysterious, unpredictable and unquestionably trustworthy), makes a promise, we don’t just hope; we HOPE against hope: that is, hoping strongly that something will happen, although it is very unlikely to happen. In hope, we believe against hope because we know that when God strikes a deal with us, He can suspend all protocols in order to bring it to fulfillment. When the mind has become tired of expecting, that is when God tells us that HE IS GOD, NOT MAN! And so, for us to journey to the land of God’s promise, we need an “Abrahamic” faith, an exceptional kind of faith that will make us hope and believe even when there is no reason or justification to do so.


REFLECTION

In 2 Sam 7:12-13, God made a promise to David: “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” This promise was made to David when he expressed a desire to build a house for God. Of course, God later raised a son for David in the person of Solomon who built a mighty house for God and reinforced the dynasty or kingdom of His father David. But did this Solomonic kingdom last forever?


Later on in this Second Book of Samuel, we would wake up to very unfortunate and heart-breaking news of the disintegration of that kingdom. That was a terrible blow! I am sure the Israelites of those times must have asked: How then can we make sense of God’s promise that He would establish David’s Kingdom forever? Years rolled by; but no trace of the promise was ever seen. However, never did they know that God had begun to build up to and clear the way for the fulfillment of that promise. A virgin betrothed to a man called Joseph conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit – in her womb, there was a King who would establish that everlasting kingdom promised to David.


In order to bank on God’s promises, faith is needed. And that is why God chose people of great faith (such as Mary and Joseph) who will hold on to His promises even when it was practically foolish to keep on hoping and believing. He chose people who would toe the line of Abraham, a man who believed the humanly impossible and hoped against hope. God chose Joseph, a just man, full of faith and hope.


Matt. 1:16.18-21.24a narrates that when Joseph discovered that Mary was pregnant, being a just man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, he decided to dismiss her quietly. Ordinarily, it is a very catastrophic and difficult situation for a woman betrothed or married to a man to get pregnant without the knowledge or cooperation of the husband. And I am sure it must have been much more difficult for Joseph to figure out the situation. In a dream, the angel of the Lord strongly convinced him not to be afraid of accepting Mary as his wife, for that which was conceived in her was of the Holy Spirit. Being a just and God-fearing man, he obeyed and did as the angel commanded him. Just like Abraham, Joseph HOPED AGAINST HOPE (cf. Rom. 4:13.16-18.22): he strongly believed that nothing would be impossible to God.


When we face certain situations that we can’t understand, we may be greatly tempted to disengage from them, call it quits and try other alternatives. But that’s when faith is tested. And it is only those who have gone beyond the “I-RECEIVE-IT” kind of faith that can wade through such murky waters of life challenges and still TRUST that God is bigger than whatever situation that they may face. It is only such people that can continue to HOPE AGAINST HOPE, trusting that what lies ahead is greater and better than what the present circumstances may offer. Let’s go to St Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary! He has a lot to teach us about FAITH!         


Prayer:

May we be blessed with the gifts of faith, patience and hope through the powerful intercession of St Joseph the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Amen!


Have a fruitful Lenten journey!



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gifts versus the Giver (Monday, Week 20, Year II)

-
Image
A gift, by the virtue of what it is, is given. In other words, there must be a giver. Gift can come or be in the form of a good friendship or relationship, material thing, good job, personal talent, and so on. Every cherished gift is the delight of our eyes, the pride of our power and the desire of our souls. The gifts that we possess should then remind us of the giver. It smacks of arrogance and ingratitude when gifts are used without acknowledging or making reference to the giver. For the Jews, the Temple or Sanctuary was the delight of their eyes, the pride of their power and the desire of their souls. It was a precious gift which they jealously guarded. However, they adorned the Sanctuary but did not truly adore the One for whom the Sanctuary exists. They were too attached to the “gift” (sanctuary) but were completely detached from the Giver of the gift – from Yahweh. Ezekiel prophesied to them that this sanctuary which was their delight will be profaned and taken away from them. M
Read more

Persecution and Triumph, the Two Realities of Christian life (Saturday, Week 33, Year 2, The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary)

-
Image
The book of Revelation is full of symbols and imageries that need to be carefully interpreted for us to understand the message they communicate. In today’s first reading (cf. Rev. 11:4-12), John was told about two olive trees and two lamp stands serving as witnesses to the Holy One. Who or what do these two sets of witnesses (olive trees and lamp stand) stand for? When we read further in order to understand what happened to these two witnesses, it may be a bit clear to us that the “two witnesses” may be pointing to Moses and Elijah, judging from what they did on earth and what they stand for. Moses stands for the Law; and Elijah stands for the Prophet. Anyone who bears witness as Moses bore witness to the Law of God must be persecuted by the beast as the first reading (from the Book of Revelation) recounted. Anyone who bears witness to the messages of truth as Elijah and other prophets did must be persecuted just as the prophets were persecuted. Persecution is a fate that awaits every
Read more

Enkindle the Embers of Unity, Quench the Fire of Disunity (Wednesday, Week 22, Year A)

-
Image
For some time now, we have heard Paul talk about the spiritual and the unspiritual: what it means to live and operate on the level of the Spirit (the spiritual) and on the level of the flesh (the unspiritual). Paul was very emphatic about this topic possibly because he was addressing a group of people who were too intellectual and academic in their approach to the things of God and all of that. Remember that the Corinthians were Greek; and the ancient Greeks were known to be too particular and more interested in intellectualism, sophistry, philosophy and human wisdom. And we must not forget that Paul has been very suspicious of over-reliance on worldly/human wisdom in understanding and appreciating the things of the Spirit. To rely more on human/worldly wisdom is a sign that one may be operating on the level of the flesh; and to operate on the level of the flesh breeds a whole lot of vices such as division or sectionalism, hedonism, and so on. In today’s section of that letter to the C
Read more