Thy Will be Done
For Guidance.
O GOD, by whom the meek are guided in judgment, and light riseth up in darkness for the godly; Grant us, in all our doubts and uncertainties, the grace to ask what thou wouldest have us to do, that the Spirit of Wisdom may save us from all false choices, and that in thy light we may see light, and in thy straight path may not stumble; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, happy new year to you! Last Sunday, we officially entered into the season of Advent, and once more turned our bodies to fasting, and our hearts to waiting upon the coming of our Lord. Advent marks the beginning of our new Christian Year, and serves as a season preparation: we reflect upon the mystery of our Lord’s Incarnation through his blessed mother Mary, and eagerly await his second coming. We take a deep breath, we slow down, we pause to reflect on our growth during the season of Trinity, and we willingly say “no” to things that we might more thoroughly enjoy saying “yes” to what God has placed before us. We consider how we may fitly meet the Lord our God once more in this season. We come together as the Body of Christ to ponder, examine, confess, and fast: it is this communal experience of Advent in which we find strength and growth, as iron sharpening iron (Prov. 27:17). Just as our lives of prayer are not lived in isolation from the community, our disciplines of fasting and examination should be done communally. And similarly to Lent, these choices to fast are made day to day, and even hour to hour. We must consciously surrender ourselves, our souls, and our bodies to the Lord that we may find grace to keep a good fast. It is not too late. Even if Advent 1 has proven difficult for fasting, it is not too late to begin today, this very hour. As Bp. Scarlett stated, “[Advent] is a season to embrace additional spiritual disciplines to facilitate our growth in repentance, faith, and virtue.” This is vital to our lives of prayer and spiritual growth.
As we began last week, our disciplines of fasting and prayer are greatly aided by examples of those saints upon whom we can meditate as exemplars of the season’s spiritual goals. Last week, we looked at the extraordinary faithfulness of our Blessed Mother, Mary, who through her faithful assent to bear the Son of God prepared the way for Christ’s salvific work and inauguration of the Kingdom of God. Her steadfast example throughout the Gospel narratives serves as an icon for us, that we might continue to practice our daily faithfulness in fasting, prayer, and openness to God’s will for our lives. Mary proves to be much food for thought, and one I’m sure we will continue to ponder throughout the course of our lives. Yet, I find it immensely important that we also turn our thoughts to her faithful husband, Blessed Saint Joseph.
Our thoughts during Advent rightfully direct to our Lord, his Incarnation in Mary, and St. Luke’s account of the angel Gabriel’s appearance to Mary. Yet, in St. Matthew’s account, we are afforded a window into St. Joseph’s experience. Before we see St. Joseph, St. Matthew details the genealogy of Jesus, from Abraham onward. It is vital to note that St. Joseph is recorded in this genealogy: “And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ” (Matthew 1:16). Though Joseph is not Christ’s biological father, we see him honored in the genealogy in the role of earthly father. This is a purposeful choice, both by St. Matthew and more importantly, by God to ordain the fulfillment of prophecy that the Messiah would come from the line of David (Isaiah 9:7). Though Joseph did not beget Christ, St. Matthew is illustrating God’s faithfulness to his promises regarding the Messiah, and the prophetic words surrounding them. Part of the way this faithfulness is accomplished is through Joseph’s faithful answer to God’s calling on his life. As Matthew Henry explains, though the Jews considered their genealogies through the male line, both Joseph and Mary were of the same tribe of a larger family system, so that through both mother and earthly adopted father, Christ was of the house of David.
In St. Joseph, as we saw with Mary, we see a drastic contrast between his response, and that of Zacharias. As we discussed last week, Zacharias’ response to Gabriel reflects a place of doubt and uncertainty in the power and word of the Lord, despite Zacharias’ role as priest and the fact that he was actively praying in the temple at the time of Gabriel’s appearance. I don’t mean to harp on Zachariah so much--I can only imagine how intensely terrifying it would be to have Gabriel greet you in the middle of your prayers--and I wouldn’t dare to say I’d do much better than Zachariah under the same circumstances, if I could speak at all. I suppose there’s a reason the angels always had to begin with, “Do not be afraid!” Yet, Joseph’s response stands in stark contrast to that of Zacharias. St. Matthew sets the stage for Joseph’s introduction, writing, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 1:18). Mary has already received the angel Gabriel’s visitation and is now carrying in her womb the Son of God, though she and Joseph have not yet come together as husband and wife. We are not afforded information about Joseph’s initial reaction, how he found out, or what specific thoughts ran through his mind. As interesting as those would be, I’d argue that those elements are not what’s important to our focus on Joseph based on the remainder of the account. St. Matthew continues, stating, “Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.” (Matthew 1:19). Rather than handing Mary over to be stoned as would have been his right as her betrothed (Deut.22:23-24), Joseph does not act out of a place of anxiety but instead sits, ponders, and listens in faith. This is a radical shift from the other narratives we’ve viewed so far: Mary questioned in faith, Zacharias questioned in doubt, but Joseph faithfully assents with no words at all.
In the middle of the night, Joseph receives a message from an angel of the Lord in a dream describing the nature of Mary’s pregnancy, the purpose of Christ’s birth, and the name the child should be given at birth, Jesus (Matthew 1:20-21). In this narrative, we are reminded of the Joseph of the Old Testament whose dreams and interpretations of dreams led to the salvation of Israel and Egypt alike from severe famine (Genesis 37-50). Similar to the patriarch of the Old Testament, St. Joseph’s response is one of great faithfulness and purposeful obedience. St. Matthew details, “Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus” (Matthew 1:24-25). The magnitude of Joseph’s actions lie in his silent, strong obedience to the word from the Lord, and reflects a life rooted in daily, small acts of faithfulness as a man of God. We know this, for he was characterized as a “just man”. His faithfulness to God’s call upon his life is a steadfast companion to Mary’s faithfulness. One can begin to see why these two were chosen with the glorious burden of raising the Son of God.
As with Mary, we are given very little else regarding the narrative of Joseph: the Bible contains no recorded words of Joseph, and we see only small references in Luke’s nativity story, and twice in the Gospel of John when Jesus is mentioned as the “son of Joseph” (John 1:45, 6:42). However, I believe it is for that reason why Joseph’s element of the nativity story is so powerful, and a portrait of unwavering faithfulness that we must consider for our own lives. Does Joseph’s example mean we cannot wrestle with what God has called us to do? Certainly not, for we see our Lord do so in the Garden of Gethsemane the night of his betrayal, as he was wrought in agony to the point of sweating blood (Luke 22:44). But Joseph willingly assents to God’s call to serve as Jesus’ earthly father and Mary’s husband, despite all social, political, financial, and religious costs in a selflessly faithful manner. He reflects the actions of a true father, considering the well-being of his family according to God’s will above his own needs, concerns, or anxiety. He embodies the words of Isaiah, “Here am I! Send me” while fulfilling the Summary of the Law in faithful unison with his betrothed Mary.
Our portrait of the Holy Family serves us as an icon of faithfulness to God’s will in all areas of our lives. Their faithful “yes” required the sacrifice of their whole selves--body, soul, heart--and many things surrounding them--money, time, social status, and more. Yet once more, their faithful assents helped offer salvation to all mankind. As we continue through these next three weeks of Advent, let us renew once more our offering of selves, souls, and bodies to be a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice. Let us continue faithfully in our lives of prayer, that we might listen to where we are called to give a faithful “yes”. Let us continue faithfully in our fellowship with one another, remembering our call as the Body of Christ to be one and whole. Let us continue as faithful stewards with our earthly goods and money to honor God, remembering we are called to give our first fruits. Let us in every way remember once more how to die to selves, that we might live fully with Christ, able to completely say, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”