My dear parishioners, sacred Tradition tells us that Joseph was an older man. Matthew's gospel recounts marvelous instances in which God directs his messenger angel to visit this good carpenter in his deepest dreams in the mysterious and fertile night.
 
Did Mary tell Joseph -- before her pregnancy was obvious to everyone -- that she had conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit? Her explanation, or lack of it, deeply distressed Joseph. Knowing full well he had not fathered Mary’s child, he pondered this embarrassing and scandalous situation. Eventually, Joseph resolved to divorce Mary quietly. Mercifully however, he did not appeal to the Mosaic Law and the death penalty it mandated for an adulterous spouse.
 
As he did for Mary, God directed his angels to minister attentively to Joseph. In the midst of his quandary, the Lord’s angel appeared to the carpenter in a dream. The angel reassured Joseph that the miracle of Mary's pregnancy was God's own incomparable gift to the world through the Holy Spirit’s power. Was Joseph simply a minor actor in a forgettable family drama? Hardly. Rather, he embodied the human ideal that Adam, the first man, had foolishly forfeited.
 
By doing what God’s angel commanded, Joseph showed that God is truthful. His fidelity to his young and vulnerable spouse imaged God's own covenant faithfulness to Israel. Through Joseph, God acted to save the son of his handmaid and bring her comfort. His obedience complemented Mary's exaltation, “My soul magnifies the Lord!”  [Lk 1:46]  His full acceptance and love for Mary was credited to him by God as an act of mercy. Israel, as well, received strength from the spiritual power of Joseph’s obedience: his upright deeds mirror Mary's proclamation of praise.  As a special grace, God frees Joseph spiritually and psychologically to receive his young wife without reservation. Hence his experience has become for us a model of spiritual fortitude enduring to the present day.
 
That Mary conceived a son and Joseph named him reconciles the ancient hostility between faith and works, interiority and exteriority. Even so, the magnitude of conceiving and naming far exceeds human dimensions. In her immaculate conception, Mary professed God’s incarnation to the world, “Let it be done to me according to your word!”  [Lk 1:38]  Analogously, the righteous Joseph signified to the skeptical Jewish nation that the incarnation’s divine reality fulfills the law and all the prophets.
 
When the power of fear is broken, praise flourishes. Hence, through Joseph's faithful witness, the world is alerted to the good news. Emmanuel has come to dwell in the midst of his chosen people. The Lords’s prophetic word bears fruit by miracle and proclamation. “The harvest has come!”  [Mk 4:29]  Through angelic intervention, God helped Joseph to accept the bond of love and service to his young spouse. However difficult his trials, he “did as the angel of the Lord commanded him”  [Mt. 1:24], trusting that the divine promises made would be fulfilled. Therefore the Jewish people need look no further than Joseph of Nazareth for a credible witness to the mighty acts of God!
 
Mary's and Joseph's prayerful assent to God reminds us that divine mercy properly makes its home in the hearts of humble persons. Do I listen when God speaks? How trustworthy and dependable is my obedience to God? Have I cooperated fully with God to accomplish my humble part of his glorious plan of salvation? Do my own words and deeds confirm the coming of the Lord in glory? What mighty work has the Holy God, the Holy Mighty One, the Holy Immortal One entrusted to me?  [cf. St. Faustina Kowlska]  People of God, the time grows short! If you have acquitted yourself well in all these things, may holy Mary and holy Joseph, pray for you! If you have not, may holy Mary and holy Joseph pray for you! Sincerely in the hearts of Jesus and Mary. Your pastor, Reverend Richard Barker.
 
 
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