Word of the day

First reading from the Second Book of Samuel
2 Sm 7:4-5a, 12-14a, 16

The LORD spoke to Nathan and said:
“Go, tell my servant David,
‘When your time comes and you rest with your ancestors,
I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins,
and I will make his kingdom firm.
It is he who shall build a house for my name.
And I will make his royal throne firm forever.
I will be a father to him,
and he shall be a son to me.
Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me;
your throne shall stand firm forever.’”

Second reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans
Rom 4:13, 16-18, 22

Brothers and sisters:
It was not through the law
that the promise was made to Abraham and his descendants
that he would inherit the world,
but through the righteousness that comes from faith.
For this reason, it depends on faith,
so that it may be a gift,
and the promise may be guaranteed to all his descendants,
not to those who only adhere to the law
but to those who follow the faith of Abraham,
who is the father of all of us, as it is written,
I have made you father of many nations.
He is our father in the sight of God,
in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead
and calls into being what does not exist.
He believed, hoping against hope,
that he would become the father of many nations,
according to what was said, Thus shall your descendants be.
That is why it was credited to him as righteousness.

From the Gospel according to Matthew
Mt 1:16, 18-21, 24a

Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary.
Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.

Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
but before they lived together,
she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.
Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.
Such was his intention when, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
“Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.
For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her.
She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins.”
When Joseph awoke,
he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him
and took his wife into his home.

Saint Joseph (…) is first and foremost the guardian of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. And, therefore, he is also the patron saint of the Church. (…) You can entrust to him certain situations that are rather complicated, when you realise that your own strength is not enough, that there are no solutions at hand. Then you can turn to Saint Joseph in prayer. He is a man of few words - in the Gospel he never speaks, there are no words of Joseph - of few words but of many deeds. Try it. A man who listens to God’s will and puts it into practice, without hesitation. I always pray to him, for this need, that other, and he always answers. (…) And do you know how God revealed his will to him? In his sleep, while he slept. This is a fact recounted in the Gospels, and it also has a symbolic meaning: it is not just a question of dreams in the psychological sense, but of revelations of the divine plan, which he received in his sleep and then, on waking, immediately fulfilled. (…) God's plans are not always clear; they often take time to manifest themselves, they require patience; above all, they require faith, a great deal of trust that God wants only and always the good, the greatest good for us and our loved ones. And so we must do as Saint Joseph did: abandon ourselves to God - this is what sleep means - to receive his messages. (To the Vatican employees, 23 December 2021)