Every 12 months, at Christmas Eve Mass, a soloist in our parish sings “Joseph’s Song” by Michael Card. The easy melody conveys a way of marvel, gentleness, and tenderness about St. Joseph that has at all times introduced me to tears. Prior to my listening to this tune, St. Joseph was, admittedly, an afterthought in my reflections on the Nativity. When Pope Francis declared 2021 the Year of St. Joseph, I made a decision to look extra into this saint.
When Joseph first realized that Mary was with youngster, he logically would have concluded that she had been untrue. Mosaic Law dictated that one who had been confirmed to have dedicated adultery should be stoned to loss of life. Yet, in his deep state of loss, within the face of betrayal, and what should have appeared just like the loss of life of his goals for this relationship and his life, Joseph didn’t reply in anger as one may anticipate.
This was Joseph earlier than the angel got here to elucidate the entire state of affairs. His actions have been unusually variety and mild. And, he clearly beloved Mary.
Then the angel got here in a dream and defined the state of affairs to him. It should have appeared a bit unreal to Joseph that an angel introduced a message from God to him in a dream and that his fiancé was carrying the Son of God! Yet Joseph, with nice religion, “did as the angel of the Lord commanded him” (Matthew 1:24).
Pope Francis, in his apostolic letter on St. Joseph, Patris Corde, particulars the 4 occasions Joseph had goals that exposed God’s plan: when the angel visited him and defined Mary’s state of affairs; when the angel advised Joseph to flee to Egypt in order that Herod wouldn’t discover and kill Jesus; when he discovered that Herod was lifeless and he ought to go to Israel; and when he was warned that Jesus was nonetheless in peril when Herod’s son took the throne, so he went to Galilee and “made his home in a town called Nazareth” (Matthew 1:18—2:23). After every dream, Joseph continued to do as he was commanded. So, Joseph not solely protected Mary’s life when she was pregnant with Jesus however continued to guard each Mary and Jesus as they fled as refugees to Egypt and as he labored as a foreigner there. Even the place Joseph selected for his household to quiet down and name residence—not his ancestral homeland the place it could have been a lot simpler to make a house—was a response to God’s message by way of the angel. Throughout his life, Joseph was radically receptive to God’s phrase, and this receptivity was instrumental in God’s plan. If it weren’t for Joseph’s obedience to God, the Messiah wouldn’t have been born or survived to maturity.
Joseph and Mary, then, shared a particular bond. They had each been visited by angels, each had been invited to participate in God’s nice plan for humanity, and each had bravely stated “yes” to God at nice expense to their very own plans for his or her lives. Throughout all of it, Joseph and Mary have been operating on excessive-octane religion! And each have been fueled by a whole openness to and utter belief in God.
As I contemplated Joseph’s function, I noticed that the fiats of Mary and Joseph—their accepting God’s plan with a response of “let it be done”—have been very like St. Ignatius’s fiat in his Suscipe prayer. I think about what it could be prefer to make this providing immediately, impressed by Joseph and Mary’s full openness to and profound belief in God.
A Faith-in-the-Plan Suscipe
Take, Lord, and obtain all my liberty,
Lord, take my plans for my life and the way I believed it could go.
my reminiscence,
Take the entire reminiscences that I used to be holding onto that influenced how I imagined I might stay.
my understanding,
I actually do not know what you’ve gotten deliberate for me, however I imagine that your dream for my life is healthier than I may ever plan or think about,
and my whole will,
so right here is my will, too, as a result of I want your assist to determine how all it will work.
All I’ve and name my very own.
Here’s every thing else too—all my possessions, accomplishments, and accolades.
You have given all to me.
You breathe life into me each second, and that life permits me to assemble all these items that I name “my own.”
To you, Lord, I return it.
So, don’t get me mistaken; I’m grateful for every thing you’ve given me, however I do know that what you take into account for me is a lot bigger than what I can see from the place I’m standing proper now.
Everything is yours; do with it what you’ll.
I’ve religion that your plan is superior and that you really want extra for me than I may ever think about. I’m sport. I belief you.
Give me solely your love and your grace, that’s sufficient for me.
All I want is your love and your grace. It’s my lifeblood and the air I breathe. That’s it!
Image by Dr. Nick Stafford from Pixabay.