Son of David, Do Not Fear

Next week, we begin the season of Lent, so I thought it would be good to offer some reflection on the infancy narrative before we being. I came across this article entitled, Joseph, Son of David, by Fr. Nicholas Solak, an Orthodox Priest. I strongly encourage you to read the entire article, but here are some quotes that I consider thought-provoking:

• How often we forget that we belong to God. So often we allow ourselves to be guided by fear and shame.
• He [God] offers us a righteousness far beyond our own when we accept that we are “sons of David.” We are part of the divine genealogy.
• Joseph does not rely on his own righteousness but rather is simply open and responsive to his divine vocation as “Son of David.” He is one who belongs to God, and he abandons his own ways in order to follow the Lord.
• Celebrating the Feast of our Lord’s Nativity in the flesh is a time for us, like Joseph, to offer our fear to the Lord. It is a time for us to recognize that our true vocation is a divine vocation, a time for us to embrace this divine calling fully and to become “sons of David.” Let this Feast of our Lord’s Nativity be a time for us joyfully to actualize in our lives the festive shout, “God is with us!”

This Lent, let us not be filled with fear. Instead, let us imitate Joe who "did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him" (Matthew 1:24).