Gospel (Mt 1,18-24) - Thus Jesus Christ was born: his mother Mary, being betrothed to Joseph, before they went to live together, found herself pregnant with her by the work of the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her husband, since he was a just man and did not want to accuse her publicly, thought of repudiating her in secret. However, while he was considering these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said to him: «Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary, your wife, with you. In fact the child that is generated in her comes from the Holy Spirit; she will give birth to a son and you will call him Jesus: in fact he will save his people from his sins." All this happened so that what had been said by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled: "Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son: he will be called Emmanuel", which means "God with us". When he awoke from sleep, Joseph did as the angel of the Lord had ordered him and took his bride with him.

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

A few days before Christmas, after having met the Baptist several times as the precursor of Jesus, the figure of Joseph comes to us. The evangelist speaks about it a few times. And, in presenting how the birth of Jesus happened, he seems to want to underline his internal turmoil. In fact, he talks about Joseph and his drama in the face of what he sees happening before his eyes. He was already engaged to Mary and, according to Jewish tradition, it was in fact already a marriage. For this reason, when he realizes that Maria is pregnant, he feels like a betrayed husband and, therefore, entitled to celebrate an official divorce. Mary, consequently, would have appeared in fact as an adulteress and, therefore, rejected and marginalized by her relatives and by all the inhabitants of the village. It was a dramatic situation. And we can imagine the disturbance of this man who feels betrayed by his wife who also seemed to him, and rightly so, truly extraordinary. Because of this high opinion that Joseph had of her, he decided to divorce her in secret. He interpreted the law in a more than delicate and merciful way. Yet, that just man, if he had implemented this legitimate and indeed generous purpose of his, would have committed an act against the deepest "justice" of God. There is a "beyond" of God in that situation that the angel reveals to Joseph in the dream. He listens to the angel, welcomes the mystery that enveloped Mary and agrees to involve her life with that mystery. He allows himself to be distracted from his personal projects and adheres to God's dream of Mary and the world. The angel continues to speak to him and reveal to him the place he must occupy in this history of salvation: "You will call him Jesus". Joseph must recognize and name that son. There are a few days left until Christmas and Joseph becomes for us the image of the believer. In his humility he shows us how to live the mystery we are about to celebrate: listening to the Word of God and preparing to take Jesus with us.