Once again, our Advent preparations are gradually drawing to a close. This week, the fourth in the season, we advance into our last week of preparations for Christmas. I suppose we’ve had a good time, despite our challenges, following up on our commitments, attending Mass on Sundays and weekdays when possible, going to confession, reaching out for individual reconciliations, building trust and love, and engaging in other activities. Those are part of the reasons for the season.
Today’s Gospel from Matthew (1:18-24) closely echoes what we read last Thursday concerning the birth of Jesus Christ. In this passage, however, there is an intentional and sustained focus on St. Joseph. As I reflected with those who attended the weekday Mass last Thursday, Joseph emerges in all of Scripture as an extraordinary man who distinguished himself in his roles as both husband and father. He was honest, obedient, trustworthy, and marked by a quiet strength that did not seek attention but carried great responsibility. That was St. Joseph, the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus!
These qualities, brothers and sisters, likely distinguished him before God, who entrusted him with the sacred task of guiding and protecting the family into which Jesus was born. In the second reading, St. Paul reminds us that God has called us to receive “the grace of apostleship,” and to bring about the obedience of faith (Romans 1:1-7). In this sense, St. Joseph stands among those, along with you and me, who responded faithfully to God’s call in obedience. Through St. Joseph’s obedience of faith, Jesus Christ found his way into a loving and happy family, a place he could call “home” during his earthly sojourn.
I do not intend to offer a lengthy elaboration on St. Joseph. Rather, it is sufficient to recognize that God, through the Church, presents him to us as a model for all parents, and especially for fathers. We are not here today, as we sometimes say, “to pull God’s legs” by demanding additional signs, such as those referenced in the first reading from the Prophet Isaiah (7:10-14), to convince ourselves that sincere devotion and commitment to God’s ways lead to happiness in life. We already know this situation to be actual because someone like St. Joseph has demonstrated it to us.
Imitating St. Joseph does not require an abundance of extraordinary talents. It calls instead for the cultivation of the virtues we see embodied in him, such as humility, faithfulness, and steadfast devotion to the responsibilities that define parenthood. As we walk the path of the last days before Christmas, celebrating the rich Posada events and gatherings, we continue to seek the intercession of St. Joseph as a community of faith for all parents, particularly for fathers, that they may fully embrace their roles within their families and in the broader community.
