O Blessed St Joseph most chaste spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary our mother, father of Jesus and father of faith and hope for us all intercede for us.
Guide all earthly fathers so that we might share in your holiness, so as to be attentive the promptings of the holy spirit as you were. To have your steadfast faith come what may, as we journey on entrusting ourselves to the will of God our Heavenly Father as you always and lovingly did.
Saint Joseph our father, just as you safeguarded your child Jesus against evil and peril; so too now, pray for our protection. Safeguard the hearts of all fathers against the wiles and temptations of Satan; so that we might remain chaste, holy as we lead our families into greater holiness and into Heaven.
O Blessed St Joseph pray for us that we might be granted purity of heart, mind and soul. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ Jesus our Lord and Saviour. Amen
First reading
2 Samuel 7:4-5,12-14,16 ·
The Lord will give him the throne of his ancestor David
The word of the Lord came to Nathan:
‘Go and tell my servant David, Thus the Lord speaks: “When your days are ended and you are laid to rest with your ancestors, I will preserve the offspring of your body after you and make his sovereignty secure. (It is he who shall build a house for my name, and I will make his royal throne secure for ever.) I will be a father to him and he a son to me; if he does evil, I will punish him with the rod such as men use, with strokes such as mankind gives. Yet I will not withdraw my favour from him, as I withdrew it from your predecessor. Your House and your sovereignty will always stand secure before me and your throne be established for ever.”’
Second reading
Romans 4:13,16-18,22 ·
Abraham hoped, and he believed
The promise of inheriting the world was not made to Abraham and his descendants on account of any law but on account of the righteousness which consists in faith. That is why what fulfils the promise depends on faith, so that it may be a free gift and be available to all of Abraham’s descendants, not only those who belong to the Law but also those who belong to the faith of Abraham who is the father of all of us. As scripture says: I have made you the ancestor of many nations – Abraham is our father in the eyes of God, in whom he put his faith, and who brings the dead to life and calls into being what does not exist.
Though it seemed Abraham’s hope could not be fulfilled, he hoped and he believed, and through doing so he did become the father of many nations exactly as he had been promised: Your descendants will be as many as the stars. This is the faith that was ‘considered as justifying him.’
Gospel
Matthew 1:16,18-21,24
How Jesus Christ came to be born
Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary; of her was born Jesus who is called Christ.
This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.’ When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do.
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