Following St. Joseph's Example

Homily 12 22 2013
4th Sunday of Advent - A

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In Christian art, Joseph is often portrayed more like Jesus' grandfather or great-grandfather than like a parent.

In a 17th-century painting by Guido Reni, Joseph, with gray hair and beard, lovingly holds the infant, who plays with his beard.

One beautiful exception is El Greco's "Joseph," which portrays him as a vigorous young man with Jesus clinging to his legs, here a figure of trust and protection.

The historical Joseph, a carpenter or stoneworker, was most likely young and vigorous; excited about a future with a woman he so loved that he would not invoke a harsh law against supposed adultery, but still followed the law and so would have put her away "quietly" -- except for the angel from God.

Yet out of his shattered hopes would come forth One whom he would name Jesus -- the Emmanuel, "God With Us."

A pastor tells the story of a worried mother who phoned the church office on the afternoon before the annual Christmas program to say that her small son, who was to play the role of Joseph in the Christmas Pageant, had a cold and had gone to bed on doctor's orders. "It's too late now to get another Joseph," the director of the play said. "We'll just have to write him out of the script."

And they did! Joseph just disappeared!

And only a few of those who watched that night actually realized that Joseph was missing.

Joseph is often forgotten.

But today's Gospel is centered on Joseph. Matthew's Joseph, in today's Gospel, provides a model of complementarity for parents today as they engage in that most divine of tasks-bringing forth new life and guiding their sons and daughters along the way of Christ. (Fr. John R. Donahue, S.J.)

Loving, responsive obedience to God by St. Joseph is the central theme of today's readings, with special emphasis on the Virgin Birth of Jesus.

Today's Gospel, from Matthew, focuses on the person and role of Joseph. In order for Jesus to fulfill the messianic prophecy given by Isaiah, Joseph had to accept Jesus as his son, making Jesus a legal descendant of David because Joseph was a descendant of David.

Hence, Matthew makes it clear that Jesus was not the biological child of Joseph. But because Joseph was the husband of Mary at the time Jesus was born, Jesus was legally the son of Joseph and thus a descendant of David.

Application:

1) Like Joseph, we need to trust in God, listen to Him and be faithful. Although we may face financial problems, job insecurity, tensions in the family and health concerns, let us try to be like St. Joseph, trusting and faithful. Instead of relying on our own schemes to get us through life, let us trust in God and be strengthened by talking to Him in fervent prayer and by listening to Him speaking through the Bible.

2) We need to experience Emmanuel in our lives and change the world: The good news and the consoling message of Christmas is that the child Jesus still waits today to step into our hearts-your heart and mine-and to change us and the world around us by the beauty of God's love, kindness, mercy and compassion.

Let us take some time to welcome the Christ Child into our heart and lives this week, so that He may change our world of miseries with the beauty of that love.

3) Let us check to see if Jesus is on our list this Christmas and if we have a special gift in mind for him. A heart filled with love for God and our fellow-human beings is the birthday gift which Jesus really wants from us.

So, let us prepare our heart for Jesus, filling it with love, mercy, compassion and forgiveness on this Christmas and every day of our lives.

4) Let us be a Christmas gift to others: The greatest gift we can give to those we love, is to have faith in them, believe in their dreams and try to help them realize them. We need to believe in the dreams of our husband, wife, children, parents, heroes, leaders and friends, then try our best to help them realize those dreams.

jjl

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