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<b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-weight:normal;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-size:18px;font-style:normal;text-align:start"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal">Friends,
 <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>today’s Gospel centers on the intriguing figure of Joseph.</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Joseph is 
one of the most beloved of the saints, </b></span>featured in countless works of 
art and prominent in the devotional lives of
many.</span><br><br><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal">We
 know almost nothing about him, yet some very powerful spiritual themes 
emerge in the accounts of Joseph.<span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b> He had become betrothed to Mary, and 
this union had been blessed by God. And then he finds that his betrothed
 is pregnant.</b></span></span><br><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal"> </span><br><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal"><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>This
 must have been an emotional maelstrom for him. And, at a deeper level, 
it is a spiritual crisis. What does God want him to do? </b><b>Then the angel 
appears to him in a dream and tells
him, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into
 your home." He realizes at that moment that these puzzling events are 
part of a much greater plan of God’s.</b></span> What appears to be a disaster from
 his perspective is meaningful from God’s perspective.</span><br><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal"> </span><br><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Joseph
 was willing to cooperate with the divine plan,</b></span> though he in no way knew
 its contours or deepest purpose. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Like Mary at the Annunciation, he 
trusted and let himself be led.</b></span></span></b></span></b></b></b></b></b></b>

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