4th Sunday of Advent: St. Joseph (Fr. Francis)
St. Joseph is to celebrate the birth of Child Jesus!
We are now in the period of immediate preparation for Christmas and the scripture readings for the Fourth Sunday of Advent reflect this with the first reading being an extract from Isaiah which explicitly predicts the Virgin Birth. This text is chosen by the Church for the liturgy this Sunday in order to highlight the fact that it was not just the coming of a Messiah that was foretold in the Old Testament but even some of the circumstances of his birth, most especially the fact that he was to be born of a virgin mother. The Gospel text then provides us with the account of the immediate events leading up to the birth of Jesus and explicitly quotes the prophecy of Isaiah which we already heard in the first reading. The key character in the extract set before us is Joseph to whom all the circumstances are revealed in a dream. Matthew’s Gospel contains more about St Joseph than any of the other Gospel writers.
We would do well to imitate Joseph in our own lives especially when we are faced with circumstances which are far from ideal. We should take him for our model and do the right thing at the time when it is needed. In the scriptures we see St. Joseph as acknowledging parental responsibilities. We see him in a protective role, taking prudent steps to shield his family from the wrath of Herod. Later on we find him in Nazareth working as a carpenter to provide a living for the three of them. He is also an educator, teaching Jesus his trade. These are the essential elements of fatherhood: protector, provider and educator. Thus the example of Joseph is especially important today for all fathers, whether they are natural fathers, foster fathers, stepfathers or indeed separated fathers. St. Joseph is presented to us as a just and honorable man. When he discovered that Mary was pregnant, he decided to do the right thing. To protect his good name, he would divorce her, and to protect her name, he would do so quietly, without making a fuss. Reputations mattered to him. He accepted the plan of God for the salvation of humanity and the role he is called play for it.
In these final days of Advent we prepare ourselves to celebrate the feast of Christmas. Let’s not focus on all the practical preparations, all the shopping, all the decorating and all the cooking. What we have to understand is that it is far more important for us, who profess ourselves to be Christians, at this particular time to focus on the actual events of Christ’s birth. As we come to the end of the Advent season we ought to be spending time in thinking and meditating on the Christmas mysteries. We ought to take a little time out to read for ourselves the Biblical accounts of the birth of Jesus and let them speak to us.
Let us spend time on meditating on the roles and responsibilities of Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, Zachariah and John the Baptist in our salvation history and how true it is to realize that everything is possible for God!
God bless us all.
Fr. A. Francis HGN