By Sister Timothy Marie, O.C.D.
Dear Saint Joseph, it is difficult for me to understand you… your personality, your character, the reason behind your reactions to various things. I’ve read, reread Sacred Scripture, and noticed – I don’t know why – something jumped out at me as I was reading.
And then I quietly began to think about you, about Mary, and about the supernatural penetrating the routine daily scenarios of your life. I began to think a new, fresh, thought… at least for me it was new and fresh. I thought about the appalling strangeness of a moment when an angel darts into your life with a message from God. And I thought, “Joseph, you didn’t even ask a question. You listened.” Like Mary, you obeyed the angel without any clarifying questions. I think if I would have been you, I would have surely looked up and asked, “What?” or “When?” “How?” or “Why?”
I’d say, “Why me? “Why now just as the census is coming?” Why the visit of an angel of God to me?” “Why?”
But, dear St. Joseph, you never asked these questions. In your steady, measured way you simply followed the directive.
And God blessed that faith-filled response. God blessed your trusting heart and faithful love. Things worked out even without the usual questions. It was God’s plan, not yours. God was in control, not you. God guided you moment by moment, step by step on your journey to the fulfillment of the promise of a Messiah. You became an integral part of that promise. Scripture records Mary’s words, “All generations will call me blessed.” No such words from you. Yet all generations will remember you, dear St. Joseph, for your total and heroic dedication to the Messiah, Jesus, your foster-son. Yes, Matthew recorded the ancestral lineage of Jesus through your line, all the way from King David to the moment in Bethlehem when the Emmanuel was born of your ancestral heritage.
Even more than that, in today’s Catholic Church you have a litany composed to you with a plethora of titles and patronages, all asking for your prayerful intercession before the Throne of God.
So, this Lent, I am also asking your prayerful intercession. I want to try to learn obedience without any clarifying questions, just putting my hand trustingly in His, and following you, walking with Him without questioning. After all, He is God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, and following your example, I want to learn to finally begin to let Him lead me. Surely, this is something new to me, and it will be difficult for me to even remember to stay silent, but I’m not getting any younger, and it is about time for me to step up to this spiritual plate.
Saint Joseph, pray for me.
