JOHN 1:1-18
IF YOU HAD COME TO MASS YESTERDAY, OR AT MIDNIGHT, YOU WOULD HAVE HEARD THOSE FAMILIAR GOSPELS; THE STORY OF JOSEPH THE JUST MAN, WHO TOOK MARY INTO HIS HOME AFTER AN ANGEL CAME TO HIM IN A DREAM. THE STORY OF BETHLEHEM, THE MANGER, THE SHEPHERDS, THE CHORUS OF ANGELS. BUT THE CHURCH HAS ANOTHER STORY ABOUT THE COMING OF JESUS, AND WE LISTENED TO THAT STORY IN THIS GOSPEL. “IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD, AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD, AND THE WORD WAS GOD. ALL THINGS COME INTO BEING THROUGH HIM; HE IS LIFE, HE IS LIGHT, AND HE CHOOSES TO DWELL WITH US.
THAT GOSPEL USED TO BE READ AT THE END OF EVERY MASS IN THE DAYS WHEN I WAS AN ALTAR BOY, AND I LIKED THE POETRY OF THE GOSPEL SO MUCH THAT I USED TO BE ABLE TO RECITE IT FROM MEMORY.
AND THERE IS ONE LINE: “THE LIGHT SHINES IN THE DARKNESS, BUT THE DARKNESS DID NOT OVERCOME IT.” WHAT THAT USED TO MEAN TO ME WAS THAT THE LIGHT WOULD TRIUMPH, THE DARKNESS WOULD VANISH AND BE NO MORE. BUT THAT IS NOT WHAT THE TEXT SAYS. THE DARKNESS REMAINS, BUT CANNOT OVERCOME THE LIGHT.
IMAGINE BEING IN A ROOM, AS BIG AS A FOOTBALL FIELD, WITHOUT WINDOWS, A ROOM WHERE THE DOOR SEALS OUT EVERY RAY OF LIGHT FROM OUTSIDE. YOU ARE IN THIS DARKNESS. YOU CAN'T SEE ANYTHING, NO SHADOWS, NO MOVEMENT. IF YOU'VE EVER BEEN IN THIS KIND OF DARKNESS, YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS. YOU LOSE TRACK OF THE PASSAGE OF TIME; YOU BEGIN TO LISTEN TO YOUR OWN BREATHING. SOMETIMES YOU HAVE A FEELING OF PANIC. YOU ARE DISORIENTED, AND IN YOUR ANXIETY AND DISORIENTATION, YOU CAN THINK OF NOTHING BUT YOURSELF. WHAT WILL BECOME OF ME IN THE DARKNESS?
AND THEN SOMEONE LIGHTS A CANDLE – NOT A BIG CANDLE, JUST A LITTLE ONE. AND BECAUSE OF THAT LIGHT, EVERYTHING CHANGES. YOU STILL CAN'T SEE VERY FAR INTO THE DARKNESS; THE LIGHT FROM THE CANDLE ISN'T THAT BRIGHT. BUT NOW YOU CAN SEE THAT THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE IN THE ROOM. YOU CAN SEE THE EXPRESSIONS ON THEIR FACES; YOU KNOW THAT IF YOU TALK, THEY WILL ANSWER. YOU CAN COME TO KNOW THEM BECAUSE YOU CAN SEE THEM, EVEN IF ONLY A LITTLE BIT, AND YOUR ALONE-NESS BECOMES LESS LONELY.
AND YOU CAN EVEN COME TO KNOW THE FLAME OF THE CANDLE, THE SOURCE OF THE LIGHT WHICH ILLUMINATES YOU AND THE OTHERS IN THE ROOM.
BUT THE DARKNESS DOES NOT GO AWAY; WHEN YOU TURN YOUR EYES AWAY FROM THE CANDLE, YOU SEE THAT THE DARKNESS IS STILL THERE.
THIS, I THINK, IS THE IDEA THAT JOHN IS DESCRIBING. A LIGHT, YES, BUT NOT ONE WHICH ILLUMINATES EVERY CORNER OF THE ROOM; A LIGHT THAT IS FAINT AND TENTATIVE, JUST ENOUGH SO THAT WE CAN SEE A LITTLE, ENOUGH SO THAT WE CAN SEE THAT WE ARE NOT ALONE, THAT WE ARE BROTHERS AND SISTERS, THAT IN SOME WAY, THE ONE LIGHT TIES US TOGETHER. THE LIGHT CANNOT BE SNUFFED OUT BY THE DARKNESS, BUT THE DARKNESS REMAINS, IT LIVES ON THE EDGES IN A SORT OF A TENSION WITH THE LIGHT. IN THIS VERY LARGE ROOM, IF YOU CHOSE, YOU COULD EVEN WALK AWAY FROM THE LIGHT BACK INTO TOTAL DARKNESS, DARKNESS WHERE YOU WERE AWARE ONLY OF YOURSELF, WHERE YOU WERE AGAIN ALONE; BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH THE LIGHT COMES TO HIS PEOPLE, NOT ALL ACCEPT THE LIGHT. THERE ARE SOME WHO STILL PREFER TO LIVE ONLY FOR THEMSELVES.
PERHAPS YOU KNOW OF SOMEONE, OR PERHAPS YOU ARE SOMEONE, WHO LONGS FOR THE COMPANY OF OTHER PEOPLE. IT'S SO TRUE OF MANY SENIOR CITIZENS, WHO SPEND MOST OF THEIR TIME BY THEMSELVES. IF YOU WERE TO WALK THROUGH A HOSPITAL OR A JAIL OR A NURSING HOME, YOU WOULD FIND SOME WHO HAVE NO VISITORS, NO ONE WHO COMES TO SEE THEM. THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE WHO LONG FOR THE PRESENCE OF SOMEONE ELSE, AND THIS FEELING BECOMES SO MUCH STRONGER AROUND CHRISTMAS. BUT WE ALL ARE LONELY SPIRITUALLY.
EVEN WHEN WE ARE SURROUNDED BY PEOPLE, OVERWHELMED BY FAMILY, THERE IS A PART OF US THAT IS STILL ALONE, A PART THAT SITS ALONE IN THE DARKNESS, IN THE SPIRITUAL DARKNESS THAT BEGAN WHEN OUR FIRST PARENTS CHOSE TO DISOBEY GOD AND LEAVE HIS PRESENCE.
AND THAT IS WHY THE WORD COMES TO DWELL WITH US, OR AS IT SAYS IN ANOTHER TRANSLATION, TO PITCH HIS TENT WITH US. THERE WILL ALWAYS BE DARKNESS AND LONELINESS ON THIS SIDE OF THE GRAVE, SOME DAYS MORE, SOME DAYS LESS. BUT THE WORD WHICH COMES TO US AND BECOMES THE LIGHT, GIVES US REASON TO HOPE. THE LIGHT REVEALS THAT WE ARE NEVER ALONE, AND THROUGH THE LIGHT WE CAN RELIEVE THE LONELINESS OF EACH OTHER, IF ONLY PARTLY, IF ONLY FOR A LITTLE WHILE.
BUT THE LIGHT CANNOT BE SNUFFED OUT, THE DARKNESS CANNOT OVERCOME IT.
TODAY WE CELEBRATE THE LIGHT THAT COMES INTO THE WORLD, THE LIGHT THAT REVEALS US TO OURSELVES, REVEALS OTHERS, REVEALS ITSELF; THE LIGHT THAT IS THE SOURCE OF HEAT AND WARMTH AND REVELATION.
SO THE STORIES OF CHRISTMAS ARE WONDERFUL, THEY FIRE OUR IMAGINATIONS, AS WE FEEL JOSEPH'S PAIN WHEN HE BELIEVES HIS MARY HAS BETRAYED HIM; AS WE ACCOMPANY THE HOLY COUPLE LOOKING FOR SOMEPLACE WARM AND OUT OF THE WIND WHERE THE BABY CAN BE BORN. WE SEE THE REVERENCE OF THE SHEPHERDS, AND WE IMAGINE THAT EVEN THE DUMB BEASTS WORSHIP THE CHILD. WE WATCH THE WISE MEN AS THE ANGEL TELLS THEM TO RETURN BY A DIFFERENT ROUTE, RATHER THAN REPORT BACK TO KING HEROD. THESE IMAGES OF CHRISTMAS ARE ALMOST MAGICAL IN THE PICTURES THEY INVOKE, THE MEMORIES OF PAST CHRISTMASES THEY CALL UP.
BUT JOHN REMINDS US THAT THE REAL MIRACLE IS A LIGHT, A HEAVENLY LIGHT WHICH ENTERS OUR DARKNESS, BRINGING LIFE AND HOPE AND WARMTH AND CONNECTION WITH EACH OTHER. AND THAT IS WHAT WE NEED TO CARRY INTO THE NEW YEAR – THE CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE THAT THE LIGHT ACCOMPANIES US NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, THE LIGHT THAT NO DARKNESS CAN OVERCOME.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Christmas Vigil, 2008
MATTHEW 1:18-24
I'VE JUST READ THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, CHAPTER 1, VERSES 18 TO 24. IF WE HAD READ VERSES 1-17, WE WOULD HAVE HEARD 42 LINES THAT ALL HAD THE SAME REFRAIN: ABRAHAM WAS THE FATHER OF ISAAC, ISAAC THE FATHER OF JACOB, JACOB THE FATHER OF JUDAH AND HIS BROTHERS – AND SO ON DOWN TO ELEAZAR THE FATHER OF MATHAN, MATHAN THE FATHER OF JACOB, JACOB THE FATHER OF JOSEPH; AND THEN WE HEAR, JOSEPH THE HUSBAND OF MARY, OF WHOM WAS BORN JESUS, WHO IS CALLED CHRIST. IN LUKE'S STORY, WE HEAR THAT JESUS WAS CONCEIVED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT BEFORE MARY AND JOSEPH LIVED TOGETHER; MATTHEW IS MAKING MUCH THE SAME POINT IN HIS GENEALOGY; HE WANTS US TO UNDERSTAND THAT IN SOME WAY JESUS IS A LINEAL DESCENDANT OF ABRAHAM, AND DAVID, AND MANY OTHERS, SOME OF WHOM WERE FAMOUS AND SOME OF WHOM WE NEVER HEARD OF; BUT IN ANOTHER WAY, JESUS IS SET APART, BECAUSE JOSEPH IS THE HUSBAND OF MARY, BUT OF ALL 42 INDIVIDUALS NAMED IN THIS GENEALOGY, JOSEPH IS THE ONLY ONE NOT REFERRED TO AS FATHER.
THIS GOSPEL PASSAGE SEEMS TO BE MORE ABOUT JOSEPH THAN EITHER JESUS OR MARY. MATTHEW HAS JUST ESTABLISHED THAT JOSEPH IS NOT THE FATHER OF JESUS IN HIS GENEALOGY. THEN HE SHOWS US THAT JOSEPH IS A MAN OF GREAT COMPASSION. THE LAW SAYS THAT IF A WOMAN IS CAUGHT IN ADULTERY, YOU CAN TAKE HER OUT TO THE EDGE OF TOWN AND STONE HER TO DEATH; IN THE TIME OF JESUS, CAPITAL PUNISHMENT WAS RESERVED FOR THE ROMAN GOVERNMENT, BUT MOBS STILL FORMED TO STONE THOSE SEEN AS SINFUL, AND IF THEY COULD NOT, YOU CAN BE SURE THAT THE WOMAN WOULD BE SHUNNED AND ABUSED, AS WOULD BE HER CHILD. AND THE WORD OF JOSEPH, A MAN, OVERWHELMED WHATEVER MARY MIGHT HAVE SAID, SINCE SHE WAS A WOMAN. SO THE FIRST THING WE NOTICE ABOUT JOSEPH IS THAT HE IS WILLING TO BREAK THE LAW; HE IS WILLING TO SAY SOMETHING THAT IS NOT TRUE, NAMELY, THAT THE CHILD IS HIS, BUT HE NO LONGER WANTS MARY AS HIS WIFE. JOSEPH IS WILLING TO SHARE IN THE SHAME THAT MARY WILL INCUR, BECAUSE OF HIS COMPASSION.
JOSEPH THEN HAS A DREAM. HOW MANY OF US WOULD SO RADICALLY CHANGE OUR LIVES BECAUSE OF A DREAM? YOU CAN IMAGINE THAT MARY, WHO WAS WIDE AWAKE WHEN SHE MET AN ANGEL, BELIEVED THE ANGEL; AND ZACHARY, WHO WAS WIDE AWAKE WHEN HE MET AN ANGEL, BALKED AT WHAT THE ANGEL TOLD HIM, AND HAD HIS ABILITY TO SPEAK TURNED OFF IN A MINUTE. BUT IN A DREAM? I THINK, THOUGH, THAT THIS IS HOW GOD SPEAKS TO MOST OF US – IN DREAMS, IN FLASHES OF INTUITION, IN IMPULSES THAT SEEM TO ARISE OUT OF NOTHING, BUT WE FEEL A COMPULSION TO FOLLOW THEM, EVEN THOUGH WE USUALLY DON'T. I THINK, ALL THROUGH OUR LIVES GOD SPEAKS TO US IN THESE LITTLE WAYS, WAYS THAT WE CAN EASILY DISREGARD, BECAUSE HE LEAVES US FREE. BUT IF WE FOLLOW THOSE DREAMS, THOSE HUNCHES, GOD SPEAKS TO US MORE CLEARLY, UNTIL FINALLY WE ARE IN A STATE OF CONVERSATION WITH GOD. MANY SAINTS HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT THIS PHENOMENON. ST. FRANCIS, ST. JOHN BOSCO, ST. CATHERINE OF SIENNA – THEIR STORIES SHOW THAT HUMAN BEINGS CAN ACHIEVE THIS INTIMACY. AND JOSEPH, WHO HAD A DREAM, AND ABRUPTLY ROSE AND DID AS HE WAS TOLD, MUST HAVE HAD THAT INTIMACY AS WELL. THE PERSON WHO LIVES IN COMMUNION WITH GOD DOESN'T NEED PRODDING TO DO HIS WILL; TO DO GOD'S WILL IS “MEAT AND DRINK”, AS JESUS PUT IT.
SO JOSEPH IS A MAN OF GREAT COMPASSION; JOSEPH IS ATTENTIVE TO THE WHISPERS OF GOD; AND JOSEPH LEAPS UP FROM HIS REST TO DO WHAT GOD COMMANDS, EVEN THOUGH IT IS IN DIRECT OPPOSITION TO WHAT HE HIMSELF INITIALLY WANTED.
IN ALL OF SCRIPTURE, WE HAVE NO WORDS OF JOSEPH. MARY AND THE APOSTLES, PONTIUS PILATE, HEROD, AND MANY OTHERS ARE GIVEN AT LEAST BIT PARTS. BUT JOSEPH SAYS NOTHING. AND YET, THE WORDS OF JOSEPH DO LIVE ON; HIS INFLUENCE ON THE CHURCH IS FAR GREATER THAN WE IMAGINE. JESUS GREW UP IN JOSEPH'S HOME. HE NEEDED FORMING, AS ALL HUMANS DO. CERTAINLY MARY HAD A PART IN FORMING HIS CHARACTER, BUT JOSEPH PERHAPS HAD A GREATER PART. THE VERY COMPASSION JOSEPH SHOWS, THE WILLINGNESS TO GO AGAINST THE RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR THE SAKE OF ANOTHER, IS THE SAME COMPASSION THAT JESUS SHOWS OVER AND OVER AGAIN. THE DESIRE TO DO GOD'S WILL, THE WILLINGNESS TO PUT THAT FIRST, EVEN IF IT MEANS DYING ON THE CROSS – JOSEPH SHOWED JESUS THAT THAT WAS WHAT A MAN OF GOD DID. THE WORDS THAT COME OUT OF JESUS' MOUTH, MANY OF THOSE WORDS, THOSE STORIES, THOSE ATTITUDES, CAME FROM JOSEPH. SO WE HEAR JOSEPH, AND OUR CHURCH OWES SOMETHING TO JOSEPH, NOT JUST THE FACT THAT HE PROTECTED JESUS AND MARY, BUT THE FACT THAT HIS HUMAN COMPASSION AND HIS HUMAN DESIRE TO DO GOD'S WILL WERE PASSED ON TO THIS CHILD GOD GAVE HIM TO RAISE.
WE THINK JOSEPH DIED LONG BEFORE JESUS BEGAN HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY. HE DIED WHILE JESUS WAS STILL JUST A CRAFTSMAN, GRADUALLY TAKING OVER HIS FATHER'S BUSINESS. JOSEPH LIVED AN ORDINARY LIFE, FULFILLED ORDINARY OBLIGATIONS, ALWAYS TRIED TO SERVE GOD AS WELL AS HE COULD, ALWAYS TRIED TO EXERCISE COMPASSION FOR OTHERS .
AND YET WE KNOW THAT GOD WAS WITH JOSEPH, GOD LIVED IN JOSEPH'S HOME, GOD ATE THE FOOD JOSEPH PROVIDED, GOD LEARNED WHAT JOSEPH TAUGHT SO PATIENTLY.
AND THAT IS WHAT CHRISTMAS MEANS. GOD IS WITH US. IMMANUEL. WE MAY NOT KNOW IT OR FEEL IT MOST OF THE TIME; JOSEPH PROBABLY WAS THE SAME. BUT BECAUSE GOD IS WITH US, EVERY LITTLE PART OF OUR LIVES HAS AN IMPACT DOWN THROUGH ALL THE GENERATIONS OF TIME; EVERYTHING WORKS TOGETHER TO FULFILL GOD'S PLAN; AND OUR MOST INSIGNIFICANT ACTION TAKES ON COSMIC MEANING.
AND THIS ORDINARY MAN WHO DID HIS BEST LEFT US ONE WORD THAT WE KNOW HE HAD TO SAY; JESUS. BECAUSE JOSEPH RECEIVED THE INCREDIBLE PRIVILEGE OF NAMING THE SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE HUMAN RACE.
I'VE JUST READ THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, CHAPTER 1, VERSES 18 TO 24. IF WE HAD READ VERSES 1-17, WE WOULD HAVE HEARD 42 LINES THAT ALL HAD THE SAME REFRAIN: ABRAHAM WAS THE FATHER OF ISAAC, ISAAC THE FATHER OF JACOB, JACOB THE FATHER OF JUDAH AND HIS BROTHERS – AND SO ON DOWN TO ELEAZAR THE FATHER OF MATHAN, MATHAN THE FATHER OF JACOB, JACOB THE FATHER OF JOSEPH; AND THEN WE HEAR, JOSEPH THE HUSBAND OF MARY, OF WHOM WAS BORN JESUS, WHO IS CALLED CHRIST. IN LUKE'S STORY, WE HEAR THAT JESUS WAS CONCEIVED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT BEFORE MARY AND JOSEPH LIVED TOGETHER; MATTHEW IS MAKING MUCH THE SAME POINT IN HIS GENEALOGY; HE WANTS US TO UNDERSTAND THAT IN SOME WAY JESUS IS A LINEAL DESCENDANT OF ABRAHAM, AND DAVID, AND MANY OTHERS, SOME OF WHOM WERE FAMOUS AND SOME OF WHOM WE NEVER HEARD OF; BUT IN ANOTHER WAY, JESUS IS SET APART, BECAUSE JOSEPH IS THE HUSBAND OF MARY, BUT OF ALL 42 INDIVIDUALS NAMED IN THIS GENEALOGY, JOSEPH IS THE ONLY ONE NOT REFERRED TO AS FATHER.
THIS GOSPEL PASSAGE SEEMS TO BE MORE ABOUT JOSEPH THAN EITHER JESUS OR MARY. MATTHEW HAS JUST ESTABLISHED THAT JOSEPH IS NOT THE FATHER OF JESUS IN HIS GENEALOGY. THEN HE SHOWS US THAT JOSEPH IS A MAN OF GREAT COMPASSION. THE LAW SAYS THAT IF A WOMAN IS CAUGHT IN ADULTERY, YOU CAN TAKE HER OUT TO THE EDGE OF TOWN AND STONE HER TO DEATH; IN THE TIME OF JESUS, CAPITAL PUNISHMENT WAS RESERVED FOR THE ROMAN GOVERNMENT, BUT MOBS STILL FORMED TO STONE THOSE SEEN AS SINFUL, AND IF THEY COULD NOT, YOU CAN BE SURE THAT THE WOMAN WOULD BE SHUNNED AND ABUSED, AS WOULD BE HER CHILD. AND THE WORD OF JOSEPH, A MAN, OVERWHELMED WHATEVER MARY MIGHT HAVE SAID, SINCE SHE WAS A WOMAN. SO THE FIRST THING WE NOTICE ABOUT JOSEPH IS THAT HE IS WILLING TO BREAK THE LAW; HE IS WILLING TO SAY SOMETHING THAT IS NOT TRUE, NAMELY, THAT THE CHILD IS HIS, BUT HE NO LONGER WANTS MARY AS HIS WIFE. JOSEPH IS WILLING TO SHARE IN THE SHAME THAT MARY WILL INCUR, BECAUSE OF HIS COMPASSION.
JOSEPH THEN HAS A DREAM. HOW MANY OF US WOULD SO RADICALLY CHANGE OUR LIVES BECAUSE OF A DREAM? YOU CAN IMAGINE THAT MARY, WHO WAS WIDE AWAKE WHEN SHE MET AN ANGEL, BELIEVED THE ANGEL; AND ZACHARY, WHO WAS WIDE AWAKE WHEN HE MET AN ANGEL, BALKED AT WHAT THE ANGEL TOLD HIM, AND HAD HIS ABILITY TO SPEAK TURNED OFF IN A MINUTE. BUT IN A DREAM? I THINK, THOUGH, THAT THIS IS HOW GOD SPEAKS TO MOST OF US – IN DREAMS, IN FLASHES OF INTUITION, IN IMPULSES THAT SEEM TO ARISE OUT OF NOTHING, BUT WE FEEL A COMPULSION TO FOLLOW THEM, EVEN THOUGH WE USUALLY DON'T. I THINK, ALL THROUGH OUR LIVES GOD SPEAKS TO US IN THESE LITTLE WAYS, WAYS THAT WE CAN EASILY DISREGARD, BECAUSE HE LEAVES US FREE. BUT IF WE FOLLOW THOSE DREAMS, THOSE HUNCHES, GOD SPEAKS TO US MORE CLEARLY, UNTIL FINALLY WE ARE IN A STATE OF CONVERSATION WITH GOD. MANY SAINTS HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT THIS PHENOMENON. ST. FRANCIS, ST. JOHN BOSCO, ST. CATHERINE OF SIENNA – THEIR STORIES SHOW THAT HUMAN BEINGS CAN ACHIEVE THIS INTIMACY. AND JOSEPH, WHO HAD A DREAM, AND ABRUPTLY ROSE AND DID AS HE WAS TOLD, MUST HAVE HAD THAT INTIMACY AS WELL. THE PERSON WHO LIVES IN COMMUNION WITH GOD DOESN'T NEED PRODDING TO DO HIS WILL; TO DO GOD'S WILL IS “MEAT AND DRINK”, AS JESUS PUT IT.
SO JOSEPH IS A MAN OF GREAT COMPASSION; JOSEPH IS ATTENTIVE TO THE WHISPERS OF GOD; AND JOSEPH LEAPS UP FROM HIS REST TO DO WHAT GOD COMMANDS, EVEN THOUGH IT IS IN DIRECT OPPOSITION TO WHAT HE HIMSELF INITIALLY WANTED.
IN ALL OF SCRIPTURE, WE HAVE NO WORDS OF JOSEPH. MARY AND THE APOSTLES, PONTIUS PILATE, HEROD, AND MANY OTHERS ARE GIVEN AT LEAST BIT PARTS. BUT JOSEPH SAYS NOTHING. AND YET, THE WORDS OF JOSEPH DO LIVE ON; HIS INFLUENCE ON THE CHURCH IS FAR GREATER THAN WE IMAGINE. JESUS GREW UP IN JOSEPH'S HOME. HE NEEDED FORMING, AS ALL HUMANS DO. CERTAINLY MARY HAD A PART IN FORMING HIS CHARACTER, BUT JOSEPH PERHAPS HAD A GREATER PART. THE VERY COMPASSION JOSEPH SHOWS, THE WILLINGNESS TO GO AGAINST THE RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR THE SAKE OF ANOTHER, IS THE SAME COMPASSION THAT JESUS SHOWS OVER AND OVER AGAIN. THE DESIRE TO DO GOD'S WILL, THE WILLINGNESS TO PUT THAT FIRST, EVEN IF IT MEANS DYING ON THE CROSS – JOSEPH SHOWED JESUS THAT THAT WAS WHAT A MAN OF GOD DID. THE WORDS THAT COME OUT OF JESUS' MOUTH, MANY OF THOSE WORDS, THOSE STORIES, THOSE ATTITUDES, CAME FROM JOSEPH. SO WE HEAR JOSEPH, AND OUR CHURCH OWES SOMETHING TO JOSEPH, NOT JUST THE FACT THAT HE PROTECTED JESUS AND MARY, BUT THE FACT THAT HIS HUMAN COMPASSION AND HIS HUMAN DESIRE TO DO GOD'S WILL WERE PASSED ON TO THIS CHILD GOD GAVE HIM TO RAISE.
WE THINK JOSEPH DIED LONG BEFORE JESUS BEGAN HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY. HE DIED WHILE JESUS WAS STILL JUST A CRAFTSMAN, GRADUALLY TAKING OVER HIS FATHER'S BUSINESS. JOSEPH LIVED AN ORDINARY LIFE, FULFILLED ORDINARY OBLIGATIONS, ALWAYS TRIED TO SERVE GOD AS WELL AS HE COULD, ALWAYS TRIED TO EXERCISE COMPASSION FOR OTHERS .
AND YET WE KNOW THAT GOD WAS WITH JOSEPH, GOD LIVED IN JOSEPH'S HOME, GOD ATE THE FOOD JOSEPH PROVIDED, GOD LEARNED WHAT JOSEPH TAUGHT SO PATIENTLY.
AND THAT IS WHAT CHRISTMAS MEANS. GOD IS WITH US. IMMANUEL. WE MAY NOT KNOW IT OR FEEL IT MOST OF THE TIME; JOSEPH PROBABLY WAS THE SAME. BUT BECAUSE GOD IS WITH US, EVERY LITTLE PART OF OUR LIVES HAS AN IMPACT DOWN THROUGH ALL THE GENERATIONS OF TIME; EVERYTHING WORKS TOGETHER TO FULFILL GOD'S PLAN; AND OUR MOST INSIGNIFICANT ACTION TAKES ON COSMIC MEANING.
AND THIS ORDINARY MAN WHO DID HIS BEST LEFT US ONE WORD THAT WE KNOW HE HAD TO SAY; JESUS. BECAUSE JOSEPH RECEIVED THE INCREDIBLE PRIVILEGE OF NAMING THE SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE HUMAN RACE.
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