We talk too much. And these days we have so many ways to do it: emails, cellphones, text messages, twitters, Facebooks, YouTubes, blogs. We hear people chattering on our TV’s, MP3 players, home radios, car stereos, iPhones--even at the gas pumps. In contrast to all this noise, we have St. Joseph. Question: How many words of St. Joseph are recorded in Bible? Answer: Zero. We never hear a word from Joseph.
It is this silence, this serenity, of St. Joseph that we admire most about him. Joseph is the Quiet Man; a man of deeds, not words. This passage from Matthew’s Gospel is the most we ever see of Joseph in the entire Bible. In this last Sunday before Christmas, Holy Mother Church points to the quiet virtue of St. Joseph, spouse and guardian of Mary, and protector of the Child within her. Without him, Christmas would not have happened.
Joseph finds himself in a difficult situation. The woman he loves more than himself is found to be with child, and he knows nothing about it. He knows her, though, and he knows she could not have betrayed him, nor sinned against God. Mary is discreetly silent about this pregnancy, and Joseph realizes that she will not defend herself. If he divorces her publicly, he will be declaring that the child is not his, and she will be killed for adultery. If he divorces her quietly, he will be declaring that the baby is his and bring double disgrace upon himself. He had decided to take the disgrace upon himself in order to protect Mary, when he had a dream.
An angel speaks the words of the prophet Isaiah: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel.” Could Joseph have known that he was being asked to provide, protect, and defend the Divine Son of God? Could he have known that world history, indeed the salvation of humanity, depended on this pregnancy? I don’t think Joseph could have known all that. All he knew was that God had asked him to take his wife into his home. So he got up, and he did it.
We talk far too much, and we do far too little. Joseph does not talk about God’s will; he simply gets up and does it. Think how much talk there is in America, for instance, about protecting children. We debate in House and Senate; we argue on talk radio, Oprah, Hannity, Larry King, and all the other TV talkers lament about what is lacking and what is needed in Gen X. And while we vigorously discuss, young people are perishing. It is not the gang violence, the drugs or the porn that is killing them. It is the absence of their fathers. Almost 4,000 children die each day in America, children just like Jesus in Mary’s womb. And they die because their fathers are not there for them.
St. Joseph can help us. He can help us men, in particular, to be faithful to our wives and children. He is a man among men, more a father even though he raised a son he did not beget, and more a husband even though he never touched his wife. He listened to God, did not make excuses, and did what God asked. What is God asking of you? Perhaps he wants you to spend an hour a day with your children. Perhaps he wants you to lead the family to the adoration chapel once a week. Perhaps he wants you to begin tithing. Perhaps he just wants you to lose 20 pounds. Joseph can teach us men to stop making excuses, to get up, and do what God asks.
Today is the Durando family’s last Sunday Mass at St. Joseph’s. Their third child, Sophia Gianna, will receive her first Holy Communion at this Mass. We will never forget Sophia Gianna, because her patroness’ window watches over the choir area. At the risk of embarrassing the father of this family, I must point out that Dino chose to hold his farewell dinner in connection with children’s adoration, the best I have ever attended. Like St. Joseph, for whose painting here he served as model, he stays behind the scenes, providing for Jesus. We wish him godspeed as he moves his family to Kansas City.
It is this silence, this serenity, of St. Joseph that we admire most about him. Joseph is the Quiet Man; a man of deeds, not words. This passage from Matthew’s Gospel is the most we ever see of Joseph in the entire Bible. In this last Sunday before Christmas, Holy Mother Church points to the quiet virtue of St. Joseph, spouse and guardian of Mary, and protector of the Child within her. Without him, Christmas would not have happened.
Joseph finds himself in a difficult situation. The woman he loves more than himself is found to be with child, and he knows nothing about it. He knows her, though, and he knows she could not have betrayed him, nor sinned against God. Mary is discreetly silent about this pregnancy, and Joseph realizes that she will not defend herself. If he divorces her publicly, he will be declaring that the child is not his, and she will be killed for adultery. If he divorces her quietly, he will be declaring that the baby is his and bring double disgrace upon himself. He had decided to take the disgrace upon himself in order to protect Mary, when he had a dream.
An angel speaks the words of the prophet Isaiah: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel.” Could Joseph have known that he was being asked to provide, protect, and defend the Divine Son of God? Could he have known that world history, indeed the salvation of humanity, depended on this pregnancy? I don’t think Joseph could have known all that. All he knew was that God had asked him to take his wife into his home. So he got up, and he did it.
We talk far too much, and we do far too little. Joseph does not talk about God’s will; he simply gets up and does it. Think how much talk there is in America, for instance, about protecting children. We debate in House and Senate; we argue on talk radio, Oprah, Hannity, Larry King, and all the other TV talkers lament about what is lacking and what is needed in Gen X. And while we vigorously discuss, young people are perishing. It is not the gang violence, the drugs or the porn that is killing them. It is the absence of their fathers. Almost 4,000 children die each day in America, children just like Jesus in Mary’s womb. And they die because their fathers are not there for them.
St. Joseph can help us. He can help us men, in particular, to be faithful to our wives and children. He is a man among men, more a father even though he raised a son he did not beget, and more a husband even though he never touched his wife. He listened to God, did not make excuses, and did what God asked. What is God asking of you? Perhaps he wants you to spend an hour a day with your children. Perhaps he wants you to lead the family to the adoration chapel once a week. Perhaps he wants you to begin tithing. Perhaps he just wants you to lose 20 pounds. Joseph can teach us men to stop making excuses, to get up, and do what God asks.
Today is the Durando family’s last Sunday Mass at St. Joseph’s. Their third child, Sophia Gianna, will receive her first Holy Communion at this Mass. We will never forget Sophia Gianna, because her patroness’ window watches over the choir area. At the risk of embarrassing the father of this family, I must point out that Dino chose to hold his farewell dinner in connection with children’s adoration, the best I have ever attended. Like St. Joseph, for whose painting here he served as model, he stays behind the scenes, providing for Jesus. We wish him godspeed as he moves his family to Kansas City.
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