- December 6, 2021 Spirituality
I have family members and several good friends with the name of Joseph. Joseph may not be as popular a name as in years past, but we still remember him on March 19, which is just a few days before the Annunciation of the Lord to Mary on March 25, and we celebrate him as Joseph the Worker on May 1.
We can only admire a man who gave himself so completely to the mission that had been entrusted to him. Joseph could have claimed his rights as Mary’s husband or shirked his fatherly duties toward Jesus. But it was never about Joseph. He shared in Mary’s self-giving love and her obedience to God’s plan. He took Mary into his home. He named his son according to the angel’s instructions. He protected his family from Herod’s persecution. And he taught his son a trade and brought him to maturity as a man. Joseph makes me reassess my definition of greatness, of what a husband and a father are meant to be. He reflects greatness in a very simple but striking way the generous love of God the Father for His Son. Joseph was a saint for us all.
The parish where I celebrate Eucharist is St. Joseph Church in Manchester, Missouri. A few weeks ago in the parish bulletin, our pastor, Father Tom Pastorius, reflected on the parish’s patron, St. Joseph. I asked Father Tom if I could share some of his reflections with the Sisters of St. Joseph and he said yes without hesitation.
Joseph was a dreamer and the “Dreaming St. Joseph” statue in the church helps us recall the three times God made His will known to Joseph through Joseph’s dreams. In the first dream, Joseph is told to take Mary as his wife. In the second, Joseph is told to flee Bethlehem and go to Egypt in order to save the child Jesus. The third dream was to let Joseph know that it was safe to return to Israel. Each of these dreams was an opportunity to surrender his plan to God’s plan and to replace his dream with God’s dream.
Will we be willing to dream and to trust our dreams? Perhaps the most cordial charity of Joseph was that he loved the future of God enough to dream, to attend to the voice of God in the present moment and to move with God. As we who share the Joseph charism move always toward love of God and love of neighbor, can we love enough to ask ourselves: How can I create enough space and silence in my life to dream and to hear God’s word for the future? Am I able to love enough to see and hear the dream?”
Joseph’s life calls us to consider what insecurities, rejection and discomfort we are willing to risk in order to embrace fully in our own lives God’s plan of salvation.
Do you have any Josephs in your family? How does Joseph inspire you to live and love generously and with great faith?