St. Maria Goretti

Have you ever noticed, that whenever you get about three-quarters of the way through a good book, or a good movie, or even a good TV show, that that’s exactly when things start getting really interesting. By that time, you know all the characters. You know the situation and the settings of the story. And it’s just about always three-quarters of the way into the story that the writer has to keep you hooked. He’s got to get you to continue to read, or watch, or listen to, his story. And so, three quarters of the way through the story, a building blows up, or there’s a car chase, or there’s a big fight scene. And the writer is getting you ready, the writer is getting you hooked, the writer is putting you in his passenger seat, buckling you in, and getting ready to take you for the rollercoaster ride, that is the end of his or her story. And all writers do this. They do this because they are good storytellers. And a good story-teller is going to always keep his audience connected to his story, especially when the audience gets most of the way through his book, or movie, or TV show, and they want to the bathroom, or they want to get something to eat, or maybe they just want to go to bed. When you’ve got a good story, you can’t stop. You can’t put it down. You just want to know, what happens next.

St. Matthew, our Gospel writer today, is a good storyteller. We’ve read his book before. We know where this going. We know what we’ve been getting ready for. We’re coming up on the stable, and the shepherds, and no room at the inn. And we’re coming to the point in the story where God is about to be born as a man. And the star is going to be there. And Mary and Joseph are going to be traveling to Bethlehem for that census. And God, our God, is about to come down from Heaven and change our world forever. But before we get to THAT part of the story, there’s this very intriguing, very interesting drama that happens first. Now we’ve already heard and read about Mary, about the Annunciation, about John the Baptist. And now, on this Fourth Sunday of Advent, everything is getting ready to happen. But first, there’s St. Joseph. And St. Joseph is about to bring this whole “God’s ultimate plan thing” to a screeching halt. You see, it wasn’t Joseph’s plan for Mary to be having a baby. It wasn’t Joseph’s idea to have all this doubt, and fear, and lack of trust brought into his relationship with Mary. This wasn’t the way that Joseph wanted it at all! This was supposed to be such a happy time. Joseph was getting married. Joseph had found a real good girl in Mary, a real good ‘catch’. Joseph had his own plans, and dreams, and direction.

And when God changes all of that, when God messes up Joseph’s plans, Old Joseph is devastated. He must have been angry. He must have been terribly confused. He must have been disappointed. So St. Matthew tells us, that Joseph intended to divorce Mary quietly, and move on with his life. And my guess is, that that was after St. Joseph had a chance to calm down and think about things. But then the angel appeared in his dream, and Joseph was assured that God had a plan, and he looked beyond himself, and he saw a bigger picture. And it’s in this Gospel today, that Joseph discerns to go along with God’s plan. He becomes the foster father to Jesus. Joseph follows God’s will and God’s way, and not his own.

My brothers and sisters, how many times, and in how many ways, do we, just like St. Joseph, get upset when we don’t get things OUR way? So many times, we just want God to give us what WE WANT. We don’t even ask God what HE wants. We could be so much happier if we all just took a little time and discerned what God wants for us, instead of getting constantly angry over not getting our own way. The greatest source of our unhappiness today is not our lack of money. It’s not our job. It’s not our marriage or our kids. It’s not the kind of car that we drive, or where we live, or the kind of wristwatch we have. The greatest source of our unhappiness is that we keep trying to make this life work based on what we want, rather than on what GOD wants. And we do it over and over again. We think we know what will make us happy. It never works, does it? Have you noticed that? You work hard, you scrimp and save, you sacrifice, you do everything that you can to get what it is that YOU THINK is going to make you happy, and never does! NEVER! Haven’t we all experienced that? What if from now on, we asked God what He wants, and we worked towards that with our energy and enthusiasm? Try it. I guarantee you that you will find more happiness, and more peace, and more satisfaction, doing what God wants you to do, than doing what you want. We need to learn how to discern things. We need to listen to what God is telling us. He might not send an angel in a dream, but God will tell you what to do. It’s not about OUR way. It’s about His way! St. Joseph found that out. God took all of St. Joseph’s anger, and disappointment, and confusion, He refocused Joseph’s life, and turned around and changed the world forever. God wants to change your life for the better also. I might not be what you want. But it will be what you NEED.

May God bless us this Sunday, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…AMEN !!!

St. Maria Goretti…Pray for us !!!