Caring for God’s weakness and dream
Year A – Advent – 4th Sunday
Matthew 1:18–24: “Joseph, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife”
The Gospel of the Fourth Sunday of Advent shines the spotlight on the figure of Joseph. While Saint Luke presents the event of the Incarnation starting from the Virgin Mary, Saint Matthew focuses his attention on Saint Joseph, the legal father of Jesus: the one who gives him his name and transmits to him Davidic descent. Luke speaks of the angel’s announcement to Mary, whereas Matthew speaks of the announcement to Joseph. The two perspectives complement one another. Thus, after Isaiah and John the Baptist, Joseph is the third figure who guides us towards the mystery of Christmas.
Welcoming the unexpected in God’s plan
Today’s Gospel begins with a shocking fact for Joseph: Mary “was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit”. It is easy to imagine the distress of the betrothed husband, who cannot explain what has happened. Deeply troubled, he wonders what to do. God intervenes to say to him: “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife”, because “the child conceived in her comes from the Holy Spirit”.
The figure of Joseph is one of the most mysterious in the Gospel. He is the man of silence: no word of his is recorded in the Gospels. Nor is any word of Mary mentioned in Matthew and Mark. It should be said, however, that in Matthew’s account Joseph is the true protagonist during Jesus’ childhood. While his name appears eight times in Matthew, that of Mary appears only four times. One might say that Joseph is the last of the patriarchs, from the line of Joseph of Egypt, the dreamer. He is the only one described as “righteous” by Matthew. Joseph is a faithful observer of God’s Law. He is the one who carries forward the transition between the Old and the New Testament.
We usually, and rightly, emphasise the obedience of Saint Joseph. However, this is not a passive obedience, but an enterprising one. Indeed, when the angel tells him to return to Israel, he does not go back to Judea, where the cruel Archelaus, son of Herod, was reigning. He considers it wiser to go elsewhere, and Heaven confirms this prudence. The young Joseph astonishes us not so much by his obedience as by his capacity for action and readiness, courage and initiative, responsibility and discernment… Far from the fearful, timid and complacent figure so often portrayed!
In this season of Advent, Joseph teaches us how to wait for God when He comes in unexpected ways. I would like, however, to highlight two particular aspects that can inspire us on our journey towards Christmas.
Caring for weakness
Joseph is called to “take with him” Mary, mother and wife, and the child. “To take with him” is Joseph’s vocation. In fact, in Matthew’s account we find this expression “to take with him” six times. Guardian of weakness, he is the guardian of the mystery.
This distinctive aspect of Saint Joseph’s role sheds light on what it means to live Christmas: “to take with us” the Mother and the Child, through faith and love. Mother and Child are threatened today more than ever by new “Herods”. God is fragile and needs to be protected. Therefore, we are called to be like Joseph.
This is not only a spiritual attitude. Let us look around us to see the fragilities that exist close to us, in our families or communities, but not only there. We often see them as a nuisance, ignore them or barely tolerate them. They are the most delicate link in our humanity. By accepting them, we welcome the mystery of God, who makes himself small, needy and poor. These fragilities have a name. Perhaps the Lord is asking us to “take with us” the weaknesses and limitations of someone in particular. In this time of Advent, may Saint Joseph show us how to care for them!
Cultivating God’s dream
“An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.” Saint Joseph is a dreamer. And he received God’s plan in a dream because he was a man capable of dreaming. He is the guardian of God’s dream, Pope Francis has remarked.
We have lost the ability to dream. We consider it childish. It is true that at Christmas we all become a little like children. We gather as families to celebrate. We wish one another peace. But we do not harbour illusions. We even feel a sense of pity for incurable “dreamers”. Perhaps we too once dreamed that things might change, but those dreams have faded away and we have adapted to reality.
Christmas is the time when the prophecy of Joel is fulfilled: “Your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions” (3:1). God brings his dream to earth. Jesus embodies it. Even if the dream seems to end in the failure of the cross, He does not give up. Through the Spirit, the Great Dreamer, the apostles—disillusioned after Jesus’ death—also became dreamers.
Christmas reminds us that today God entrusts this dream to us. May Saint Joseph obtain for us the grace to awaken our capacity to dream!
For reflection
“God waits patiently for me finally to consent to love him. God waits like a beggar standing still and silent before someone who may perhaps give him a piece of bread. Time is this waiting. Time is God’s waiting as he begs for our love. The stars, the mountains, the sea, everything that speaks to us of time brings us God’s supplication. Humility in waiting makes us like God. God is only the beggar. That is why he is there and waits in silence. Whoever steps forward or speaks uses a little force. The good that is only good can only be there. Beggars who have modesty are his images.”
(Simone Weil)
Fr Manuel João Pereira Correia, mccj
Fr. Manuel João, comboni missionary
Sunday Reflection
from the womb of my whale, ALS
Our cross is the pulpit of the Word
