"Joseph, son of David, do
not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home." (Matthew 1:20)
There is an overarching theme in
all the stories leading up to the birth of our Lord. Both Joseph and Mary are told,
"Do not be afraid" by the angel. Joseph who was a just man did not
want to expose Mary, his beloved, to shame. He feared that divorcing her
publicly would cost her her life as prescribed by Jewish law. But the angel comes to dispel those fears.
God is with them. God himself will dwell with them. In an instant, Joseph is
cast as a central character in this drama authored by God himself as this poor
and simple carpenter would become nothing less than the head of the Holy
Family. Only the Provident Hand of God
could write this story, and thankfully, Joseph, like his wife, accepts this
unique call. Like all husbands to be, he
probably had his plans for Mary and himself, but God had more extraordinary
plans for this just man from Nazareth as he does for you and me.
All around us simple, "ordinary"
people are doing extraordinary things.
Many parishioners will not rest this Christmas until every poor child
has a toy and every poor family has a proper meal to celebrate the birth of our
Lord. Many will take communion to the
sick on Christmas Day. Others will visit prisons. Like Joseph and Mary, these are the unlikely
heroes of Christmas. All Joseph and Mary
did was say "yes." God took care of the rest. We have to entrust
ourselves to Providence and totally trust in Him to accomplish his good work in
us. We too are called to be unlikely
heroes in God's marvelous plan. All we have to do is trust Him.
A couple of weeks ago, I was
going over this Bible text with our pre-confirmation class and told our young
people that just like Joseph and Mary, each and every one of us was placed by
God on this earth to do something extraordinary. One of my more intelligent
students made a face and disagreed with me stating that some people are called
to be ordinary, regular people and nothing else. I was saddened by such a
pessimistic view of life at such a young age but gently reminded her that even
she was called by the Lord to do something that nobody else couldn't. Only Mary
was called to be the Mother of God. Only
Joseph was called to be the head of the Holy Family. As we rapidly approach Christmas, we stare at
the child in the manger and know full well what he would grow up to be and do
for all of us. Look inside your heart
during these last days of Advent and ask the Lord what unlikely, extraordinary
task he has in store for you. All you have to do is say yes...his grace will
take care of the rest.
