Friday, December 18, 2026 — Friday of the Third Week of Advent (O Adonai)
Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid
Matthew 1:18-25
Readings of the day: Jeremiah 23:5-8; Psalm 72:1-2, 12-13, 18-19; Matthew 1:18-25.
The Gospel
Mary is found with child through the Holy Spirit before she and Joseph live together. Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to expose her to shame, decides to divorce her quietly. But in a dream the angel of the Lord tells him not to be afraid to take Mary home: the child is conceived of the Holy Spirit, and he shall name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. This is the Emmanuel foretold by the prophet, God with us. Joseph wakes and does as the angel commanded.
Reflection
Joseph’s justice is not the justice of exposure. He believes the worst of what he sees, and still he will not shame Mary; he plans to step aside quietly. “St. Matthew has beautifully taught how a righteous man ought to act,” says St. Ambrose, “so as at once to keep himself guiltless of her blood, and yet pure from her defilements.” And St. Augustine adds that Joseph, “with great mercy spared his wife... seeking rather the benefit than the punishment of the sinner.” That is the justice Advent asks of us: to protect before we accuse, to leave room for God’s explanation. Because Joseph made room, the house of David received Emmanuel. The O Antiphon today calls Christ O Adonai, O Lord and Ruler: the Ruler of Israel comes to us not with a sword, but through the quiet obedience of a just man.
From the Fathers
“St. Matthew has beautifully taught how a righteous man ought to act, who has detected his wife’s disgrace; so as at once to keep himself guiltless of her blood, and yet pure from her defilements; therefore it is he says, Being a just man.”
— St. Ambrose, in the Catena Aurea on Matthew 1:19
“Joseph, being a just man, with great mercy spared his wife, in this great crime of which he suspected her... seeking rather the benefit than the punishment of the sinner.”
— St. Augustine, in the Catena Aurea on Matthew 1:19
Saint of the day
Saint Winebald (c. 701–761), Benedictine abbot and missionary. Son of Saint Richard the Pilgrim and brother of Saints Willibald and Walburga, he worked under Saint Boniface in Germany and became the first abbot of the double monastery of Heidenheim. He died on 18 December 761. The Church also keeps today, in Spain, the feast of Our Lady of the Expectation.
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Sources: the day’s readings follow the daily lectionary (USCCB, Lectionary 194). The Gospel text is not reproduced here; read it at the link above. Patristic quotes: Catena Aurea on Matthew 1:18–25, compiled by St. Thomas Aquinas, translated by John Henry Newman (1841, public domain).