Gospel (Mt 1,16.18-21.24a) - Jacob fathered Joseph, the husband of Mary, from whom Jesus, called Christ, was born. Thus Jesus Christ was begotten: her 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." When he awoke from sleep, Joseph did as the angel of the Lord had ordered him.

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

Today the Church celebrates the feast of Saint Joseph, Mary's husband. He, a descendant of the house of David, had the task of linking Jesus to the Davidic lineage, of summarizing the figures of the patriarchs, who had often received God's revelation in dreams, and of making little Jesus retrace the path of the exodus from Egypt to the promised land, inserting it fully into the history of Israel to make it heir of the promises. A man of silence, Joseph learned the Lord's will day after day and obeyed. An ancient legend says that he died in the great peace that Jesus gave him. This is why in Western tradition people soon began to invoke him to receive the gift of a good death. The Eastern Churches remember him together with David and James, brother of the Lord in the days after Christmas. His figure, linked to the childhood of Jesus, reminds us of the indispensable attitude of listening that every believer must have, especially in those moments in which difficulties seem to prevail. Matthew's Gospel passage tells us how Joseph became involved in the mystery of the birth of Jesus. The evangelist seems to want to underline the irregularity of the birth of Jesus. He speaks of Joseph and the doubly serious drama that he is experiencing. As a betrayed husband, he would have to celebrate an official divorce (Maria would appear as an adulteress and, therefore, rejected and marginalized by her relatives and all the villagers). Obviously Mary also thought of these things when she heard the angel's announcement. And she, nevertheless, she obeyed. Joseph, for his part, had decided to repudiate his young bride, but in secret. It was a gesture of delicate justice, one might say merciful. Yet that just man, even more delicate than the law, if he had done this he would have made a gesture against the deepest justice of God. There is in fact a beyond of God that the angel reveals to him. Joseph listens to him and understands what is happening around him and within him. He thus becomes a disciple of the Gospel. And the angel continued: “You will call him Jesus”. Joseph must recognize and say who that son is. For this reason it is the image of the believer who knows how to listen and knows how to take Jesus with him. If we listen to the Gospel we too will be able to take Jesus with us as the friend of our days, of our entire life.