March 19, 2022 – Solemnity of St. Joseph, the Husband of Mary

Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031922.cfm)

As it happens in small villages, Mary must have been subjected to gossips and fake news. Mary was judged without further investigation. The eyes and fingers of the people around her must have pointed and branded her to be a shame. In their eyes, the promise of the engagement was broken.

Joseph also must have been confused and must have been very hurt. However, Joseph’s response was not out of anger or bitterness. In the heart of Joseph, he wanted to save Mary by divorcing her quietly. Joseph must have thought that Mary was in another relationship. To divorce her quietly will allow Mary to be engaged with the man who fathered the baby in her womb.

This difficult situation in Joseph became the way for God to reveal the divine plan to this gentle and thoughtful man. God must have been “waiting” for the proper time when to reveal to Joseph the divine plan. Thus, when everything was in its place and when Joseph was ready enough, an angel revealed to Joseph the mind of God.

 How did this happen? It was when Joseph was asleep. As Joseph was asleep, God also worked wonders through him. Being asleep in the presence of God is putting all our trust and confidence in the power of God to change and to transform us. To fall asleep in God’s presence is a way of exercising patience. If it was not an act of patience, Joseph would have been eaten by his anxiety. He will not be able to sleep just like us when we are overwhelmed by our concerns and problems.

Thus, as soon as Joseph awoke from his deep dream, he realized the fulfillment of what he was hoping for and the hope of all humanity, the joy of all. Joseph began to see the scandalous situation of Mary’s pregnancy through the eyes of faith and God’s love rather than on suspicion and disappointment.

Joseph understood that Mary’s pregnancy was a statement of God’s faithfulness and commitment to us. This is God’s assurance to us now that he is present and he lives in the midst of our lives, in the midst of our pain, of our failures, hurts and fears in order to bring to us His mercy, love and friendship.

This became the foundation of Joseph’s “patience” as he also faced more trials in his life as the husband of Mary and father to the young Jesus. Joseph proved that to be patient is to be able to listen, wait and discern God’s invitations for him.

From here, St. Joseph tells us of two invitations.

First. Learn to wait. This calls us to accept the reality that not everything is under our control. We have to wait then and trust the process that we are going through. May it be the process of towards our healing, towards the realization of our dreams, towards our growth as a person or towards understanding. This calls us also to grow in our confidence in God who promised to be with us and to journey with us in the most trying and even terrifying moments of our life.

Second. Learn to discern. This is to be able to see life us God sees it; to be able to understand our reality as what God wants it to be understood. Therefore, this is not about “what I think” (or our personal opinion and personal understanding of things which can be very subjective and colored by our biases) but to be able to believe in God’s presence, thus, guiding us to know God’s desire for us. Hinaut pa.