Saint Joseph the Father

During Advent, various sisters offer a biblical reflection on the Sunday scriptures at Evening Prayer on Saturday. Following is my reflection for the Fourth Sunday of Advent.

Saint Peter's Square in Rome has been busy all this week, with workers constructing the life size Nativity scene. Sheltered by a large tree and concealed with burlap and scaffolding, it will be unveiled after the first Mass of Christmas, at midnight tomorrow. Last year, when I was there with students from our College, the traditional manger scene had been placed under a tent, almost as if the Holy Family were part of a tribe of nomads. This year, it will be even more surprising.

The nativity scene is set, not in a stable or a cave — but in Joseph's carpenter shop, with angels hovering overhead. The inspiration was drawn from the words of the Gospel we heard this evening, that Joseph "took them into his home."

Although this generous care leads us to name schools, hospitals and orphanages after Saint Joseph, we don't often reflect on his role in the mystery of the Incarnation. The Vatican, with its new setting for the crèche, and the Scriptures of this Fourth Sunday in Advent, invite us to do so.

We have heard the story so many times that it can be difficult to listen with fresh ears. We need to consider that the birth of Jesus did not have unfold as it did. It could have been otherwise.

After the Annunciation, after Mary's fiat, God could have arranged for the birth and care of his Son in so many ways. Surely Zaccariah and Elizabeth, who welcomed Mary into their home for three months early in her pregnancy, would have given her shelter and care. Joachim and Anne — who had dedicated this daughter to God before her birth — would have welcomed her home again. The Magi, the shepherds, the people of the town — there is no limit to the ways in which God could have provided for Mary and for her child to be born. God chose none of those alternatives: he chose Joseph.

Joseph's love and concern for Mary were evident when he did not want her exposed to shame or punishment — even though he felt distress and sorrow when he found so unexpectedly that she was with child. He preferred to bear public scorn for his meek acceptance of her seeming infidelity than to bring harm to Mary. But even more would be asked of him.

When God's angel comes to Joseph as he sleeps, he bears a message so startling and profound that scripture scholar Raymond Brown referred to this passage as "the other annunciation." Joseph is attentive to God's word, even in his dreams. He hears that this child will be called Emmanuel, will be God's presence among us. And that he is the Messiah, come to save us.

Like the first annunciation, this angel's message requires a response.Joseph's fiat is not spoken. Rather, his actions echo Mary's words:I am the servant of the Lord. Be it done to me according to your word. Mary's assent gave flesh to the Word; with Joseph's assent, a family and home has been provided. All is now ready for the great mystery of God's entrance into the fabric of human history.

Why is Joseph so important? Everything about the birth of this child must be understood — as Isaiah prophesied long ago — as a sign, pointing to the reality of God's action in our lives. God's choice of Joseph as the earthly father for his Son is not about practicalities. God is not merely looking out for Mary or making sure Jesus will have a roof over his head and food to eat. The meaning goes far deeper.

Pope John Paul II, in his apostolic letter on St. Joseph, wrote that "while it is important for the Church to profess the virginal conception of Jesus, it is no less important to uphold Mary's marriage to Joseph." He emphasizes the deep and abiding love between Joseph and Mary, referring to their true marriage as "an indivisible union of souls and of hearts." At the beginning of the New Testament — as at the beginning of the Old Testament— there is a married couple, one whom the Pope called "the summit from which holiness spreads all over the earth."

This bond of love formed the core of the Holy Family's life — at the birth of their son, in their flight to Egypt, and later, in Joseph's home in Nazareth. The mystery of the Incarnation has, as an integral component, this special mystery of the family that was formed when Joseph took Mary into his home. It is not enough for the Son to have God as Father: to live and witness to the fullness of human existence, this Son of God must have a human father. This human family of the Son of God, created by divine mystery, is united by bonds of love, reverence, and compassion. It is in this family that we can see the meaning of fatherhood.

In the passage we hear this Sunday, Joseph truly becomes a father. His is not a fatherhood of begetting children, but neither is it a fatherhood in appearance only, or merely a "surrogate" fatherhood. He fully assumes the role and identity of a father, sharing the joys, sorrows, responsibilities and opportunities of all human fathers. He exemplifies the mission of a father in the human family. After the nativity, we tend to forget the years of Jesus' childhood: Joseph the protector and provider, the laborer and companion; the guide and teacher of his Son. One commentator remarked on the Christmas carols that sing only of "mother and child" and asked, "Where did Joseph go? Out to the store for diapers?"

The image of the father — fatherhood itself — is at risk in our society. More than one third of the babies born this year are born to unmarried parents. Their chances of having a father involved in their lives are less than other children even in our high divorce culture. The reasons for this trend are numerous — and no one is here for a sociology lecture — but cultural uncertainty about the meaning and role of fatherhood is a major component in every explanation for the decline of marriage and fatherhood. Young men say that society is eager to teach them how to avoid becoming a father: but we have little to offer about how to be a good and loving father. In fact, as one said in my class this semester, "everyone wants to have a Dad to look up to, but no one thinks it's cool AT ALL to say you want to be that Dad."

The Vatican's decision to place the nativity scene in Joseph's carpentry shop is, perhaps, one way of restoring Joseph to a place of prominence, as a man worthy of the "other annunciation." We see in him a man of courage and of steadfast faith — who dreams, yes, but who listens to the message of God and follows with his whole heart. This is the man to whom Jesus looked, with trusting eyes, the first time he uttered the word "Abba" — the man who was called Daddy by the Son of God.

Throughout Advent, the scriptures have urged us to prepare the way for the Lord. In the very few hours before we gather again in this Chapel to celebrate Emmanuel, God truly with us, we can do what Joseph did. Pondering in quiet, contemplating the mystery of God's desire to be part of our lives, with an attitude of availability, we can open our hearts and ask the Savior to make his home there.

Our hope and prayer as Advent comes to a close is that we may welcome Jesus as Joseph did into his home. That we ask him into the workshop of our lives where we can build something holy and pleasing to God. We have tools given to us by Saint Benedict; we are nourished daily by the bread of life; we are supported by the love of community. May we come to share in the bond of love which united Joseph and Mary and their Son.

Amen.