Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent
I’ve had many occasions this year to ponder what it means to be merciful. People in my life have shown me great mercy, for which I am deeply grateful, and from whom I’ve learned a lot about being a merciful person. I’ve also witnessed the pain and trauma that people experience when others withhold mercy from them. Sometimes the unmerciful believe that they are following God’s law and the teachings of the Church. They hold to a rigorous interpretation of the rules, and a black and white understanding of “right behavior.” Some, in their quest to be righteous, point out what they perceive as another’s sin and sometimes even shun them because of it. God doesn’t tolerate sin, so neither must I; surely God judges them, so I will, too. Sadly, these folks misunderstand the righteousness God requires of us. God’s righteousness is always merciful. In today’s Gospel, St Matthew describes Joseph as a “righteous man.” We can learn a lot from Joseph’s witness to his faith and his love for God.
Our Gospel text describes Joseph’s experience of coming to grips with Mary’s pregnancy. We can only imagine his bewilderment as all he had to go on was her testimony and her word that she had not been unfaithful to him. How he must have wrestled with wanting to trust her while imagining the worst. He must have suffered great emotional distress as his feelings no doubt ran the gamut – doubt, fear, betrayal, anger, confusion, heartache . . . put yourself in Joseph’s shoes and try to imagine. St Matthew writes, Joseph, her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Joseph was a righteous man. What does a righteous person do in this situation?
While not yet officially married, their betrothal gave Joseph and Mary legal status as husband and wife. Jewish law prescribed that the penalty for adultery was stoning to death. Before the angel’s visitation to him, Joseph was justified in assuming that Mary had committed adultery. A “black and white” interpretation of the Law would have led him to the decision to follow the law’s prescription. Righteous people are law-abiding, right? They follow the precepts and teachings of the faith to the letter, right? But Joseph recognized the wideness in God’s mercy. It’s so beautiful that even in the midst of his own pain and uncertainty, even if he believed that Mary had been unfaithful to him, Joseph chose to be merciful to her rather than enforcing the legal requirement. Since he was a righteous man, he chose to offer mercy in order to protect Mary from public humiliation and death. This was a merciful act toward her parents and family, as well. So often, when people experience pain and heartache in relationships, they react out of that brokenness in vindictive, angry, or spiteful ways. Joseph had none of that within him. He was a righteous man, and so he chose mercy.
In the first reading today, Jeremiah describes the coming Messiah as one who reigns and governs wisely, who does what is just and right in the land. The fruit, the evidence of that behavior, is the liberation of God’s people. Justice and righteousness looks like untying people from whatever binds them; it looks like bringing those in exile back home; it means liberating the captives.
What about you? What about me? Are there people in our lives whom we have judged rather than loved? Have we marginalized anyone by withholding mercy from them? Has our self-righteousness set itself up against true righteousness and gotten in the way of loving relationships? Let’s examine our consciences. If we need to repent and be reconciled to someone, let’s do that right away. Also, to whom might God send us to speak a word of hope and liberation this Advent season? I must remember that God has been abundantly merciful to me. God has liberated me from my bondage to sin through his Son my Messiah. God continues to shower me with love and surround me faithfully by his presence even though I remain a frail, imperfect person. I have been liberated to be an ambassador of liberation. I have been mercifully set free in order to demonstrate mercy. God, help me to remember that your righteousness is always merciful. No other form of righteousness exists.
- Elizabeth Wourms