Joseph’s "risk" in taking a pregnant young Mary as his bride gives us a lesson, says Pope Francis. The lesson is "to take life as it comes. Has God intervened there? I accept it."
"Dear brothers and dear sisters," the Pope said, "our lives are very often not what we imagine them to be."
Instead, the Pope encouraged, let us find the work of Providence in what comes. He reflected that "particularly in front of some circumstances in life that initially appear dramatic, a Providence is hidden that takes shape over time and illuminates the meaning even of the pain that has touched us."
"Help each of us to allow ourselves to be surprised by God
and to accept life not as something unforeseen from which to defend ourselves,
but as a mystery that hides the secret of true joy," he prayed to St. Jospeh.
Just Joseph
In this third installment in his series of catecheses on St. Joseph, Pope Francis considered the Gospel's brief references to Joseph, as a just man, betrothed to Mary.
Upon realizing she was with child, Joseph's "love for Mary and his trust in her suggested a way he could remain in observance of the law and save the honor of his bride."
God's voice intervenes in Joseph's plans. "In a dream, He reveals a greater meaning than [Joseph's] own justice," the Pope said.
Engaged couples
The Pope went on to address engaged or newly married couples with advice drawn from St. Joseph's lessons. He spoke of how the infatuation of new love passes.
In fact, to love is not the pretension that the other person, or life, should correspond to our imagination. Rather, it means to choose in full freedom to take responsibility for one’s life as it comes.
The Pope also made reference to the tense dialogue between Jesus and the Doctors of the Law found in the 8th Chapter of John's Gospel
Like Joseph
The Pope said:
And Joseph’s risk gives us this lesson: to take life as it comes. Has God intervened there? I accept it. And Joseph does what the angel of the Lord had ordered [...]
Christian engaged couples are called to witness to a love like this that has the courage to move from the logic of falling in love to that of mature love. This is a demanding choice that instead of imprisoning life, can fortify love so that it endures when faced with the trials of time.
The Pope said that mature love begins with "love lived every day, from work, from the children that come… And sometimes that romanticism disappears a bit, right?"
He then reiterated the advice he's given on other occasions to married couples: To accept that there will be arguments, and sometimes testy ones, but to finish the day with at least a caress of peace.
