Monday, March 20,
2017
The Solemnity of
Saint Joseph, husband of Mary
Today we honor Saint Joseph, the
silent, humble and upright man whose role in salvation is both crucial and
privileged. Twice he was visited by an angel in his dreams, and three times the
angel’s word to him uprooted and changed the trajectory of his life.
He was planning to set Mary
aside and not go through his marriage to her when it was discovered that she
was pregnant. That culture would have called for a public and cruel punishment
for her since she “apparently” was a great sinner. The angel explained the true
circumstances of her pregnancy to Joseph, and he changed his plans for her and
took her under his care. We hear the story so often we may gloss over the
humanity of Joseph and overlook the terrible trials he bore both when he
discovered that his betrothed was with child, and again when he realized that
his destiny was to become the chaste husband and guardian of both woman and
Child for the rest of his life.
We can and should go to Joseph
at those particular moments when our world is turned upside down and the “rug
is pulled out from under us,” or when we become aware that our destiny is going
to be so much different than what we thought had been plotted out to us.
Joseph is the strong and silent
figure who withstood the twistings and turnings of his own life.
His second visit by an angel
summoned him to take his fledgling family and flee to Egypt, to leave
everything he had known and go to a land which, as a Jew, he must have feared
and resented, since the connotations of this voyage could very well have seemed
to be a “return to the land of slavery.” The third visit by the angel told him
to leave Egypt but not to return to his original home, but rather to go to an
insignificant town known as Nazareth so that he might avoid the danger which
awaited him in Judea.
How many times in our own lives
has an angel protected us from harm which awaited us and sent us in an
unexpected and perhaps alien direction for our own good? We might never know
that this happened to us, but I would offer you a suggestion, if I may: Look at
the disappointments in your life; look deeply enough that you can see the hand
of God in what was so difficult to accept or make sense of.
There is one event in Joseph’s
life that we learn about and it happened when Jesus was 12 years old and the
family was in Jerusalem for worship. They couldn’t find Him, and what fear and
anguish that must have caused His parents; finally they found him teaching in
the temple—another unexpected occurrence—and when Mary asked him why he “had
done this to us,” his response seemed almost rude, but yet a typical response
from a 12-year-old: “Did you not know that I had to be in my Father’ house?” I
wonder what that might have felt like to Joseph, or whether he was struck with
an arrow of humiliation.
Joseph the silent one. Joseph
the patient one. Joseph the guardian, no matter what. Joseph who helped the boy
Jesus grow in wisdom and grace, and who taught him the carpenter’s trade.
Honor him, and pray that he may
guard you until the day of your death.
God bless you!
Please note that there will be no reflection tomorrow, Tuesday, March
21.
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