Doing God’s Will
This weekend we have Matthew’s story of the birth of Jesus. It seems to me that, in the story of the birth of Jesus, Joseph is in the background. He does not have a speaking part. This is true of the infancy narrative in Luke. But in St Matthew his role is crucial: “Joseph is betrothed to Mary but before they came to live together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.” Matthew describes Joseph as a righteous man, unwilling to expose Mary to disgrace. His plan was to dismiss her quietly.
Pope Francis had a deep love for St Joseph. The first decree of a liturgical nature that Francis proclaimed came on May 1, 2013, the feast of St Joseph the Worker. He decreed that the name of St Joseph should be added to Eucharistic Prayers II, III and IV, after the name of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as they appear in the third typical edition of the Roman Missal. He spoke of St Joseph in these words,
‘How does Joseph exercise his role as protector? Discreetly, humbly and silently, but with an unfailing presence and utter fidelity, even when he finds it hard to understand. … In him we learn how to respond to God’s call, readily and willingly, but we also see the core of the Christian vocation, which is Christ! Let us protect Christ in our lives, so that we can protect others, so that we can protect creation! …In the Gospels, St. Joseph appears as a strong and courageous man, a working man, yet in his heart we see great tenderness, which is not the virtue of the weak but rather a sign of strength of spirit and a capacity for concern, for compassion, for genuine openness to others, for love. We must not be afraid of goodness, of tenderness!’
Important words in the Gospel today are: When Joseph woke from sleep, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took her as his wife. He had heard the words of the angel, Do not be afraid.
It wasn’t an easy thing for Joseph to stand beside Mary, his pregnant betrothed wife. Joseph did what was asked of him. Nicholas King S.J. wrote, ‘We may well imagine that there will have been a social cost to this brave obedience: many will have observed that Mary was pregnant when she ought not to be, so they will have regarded Joseph as an accomplice in her apparent immorality.’
Fr Nicholas concludes his article, ‘What of us, therefore? How are we to approach the festival that is now just a few days away? Not, I think, by rushing out and enjoying the materialist consumer-fest that has dominated the shops for these several weeks now. Instead, the invitation to us is to do whatever it is we are meant to do, regardless of the cost in terms of other people’s esteem. We will discover that, if you answer the call of God, you will find plenty of people who will rise up in their wrath and criticise you. This Christmas let us watch Joseph and admire the courage of this just man in doing God’s will, whatever the cost. Christmas is not a celebration of the powerful and the mighty; it is a feast of the poor, and of those who know their need for God.’
