St. Joseph, the Silent Character in the Mystery of Incarnation

Fourth Sunday of Advent – 22 December 2019

Isaiah 7:10-14; Psalm 24; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-24

The event of Annunciation is always associated with Mary, the feast of which is celebrated on 25 March every year.  What we heard in the Gospel just now is also the event of Annunciation, the recipient of the Good News this time being St. Joseph.  The Mystery of Incarnation cannot be understood fully without the person of St. Joseph. Our preparation for the event of Christmas is not complete without a reflection on the exemplary and inspiring St. Joseph.

In as much as Angel Gabriel, Mary of Nazareth and John the Baptist are the integral figures of the Nativity of Jesus our Lord, St. Joseph too is an essential person whose role we cannot ignore. This is the reason, as just a few days before the Solemnity of Christmas, St. Joseph is presented to us for our reflection.

The Gospel writer before narrating the details of the Annunciation event, describes the character of St. Joseph. Who is St. Joseph? Joseph is the husband of Mary. Joseph is a righteous man. Joseph does not want to put Mary to Shame. Joseph wants to divorce Mary quietly. What a positive description of St. Joseph here! I think, there could not have been a better human foster Father for Jesus that St. Joseph and no wonder why God’s favourable sight descended on St. Joseph.

Dwelling a little on these positive characteristics of St. Joseph, let us see what makes him so great a saint and a fitting person to be the Foster Father of Jesus on this earth. Joseph is a righteous man. Not just in words! The Gospel author explains the ‘righteous character’ of Joseph. Completely unaware of God’s divine intervention in the life of Mary, Joseph concludes that there is something that has happened in the life of Mary that he does not know. So, what does he do? He does not call the public and cry aloud about Mary bearing a child. He does not call her names and tarnish her character.  He takes care to see that he brings no shame on Mary. He wants to move out quietly.  Is he not a gem of a character full of purity?

What could have been our reaction in the event of finding ourselves in a similar situation as that of St. Joseph? Are we quick to pass judgement on the character of the other? Are we hasty with our accusations?  Are we swift in creating rumours and spread the same? Are we careless in calling names and ruining the image of the other?  Do we take delight in putting someone else to shame? Do we show any restraint when it comes to ‘ill-talk’ about the other? Look at St. Joseph, one who could have done all of these, takes a path less travelled – a path of righteousness.

The angel of the lord announces to St. Joseph the Good News of Jesus’ birth through Mary our Mother as willed by God. What is St. Joseph actually doing? He is sleeping. It is in a dream that St. Joseph hears from the angel. Having become a worried person about what is happening to his marriage with Mary, he sleeps taking his worries to the Lord in Prayer. The situation of Mary with a child does not make sense to St. Joseph, he however does not become dejected but takes refuge in the Lord. It is because, his heart and mind were directed to the Lord, he was able to dream a dream that gives Joseph a sense of what is happening.

The first words that Joseph hears from the angel of the Lord is “Do not be afraid”.  Right words at the right time. How consoling and reassuring these words would have been to Joseph who was undergoing something he could not comprehend. The angel of the Lord went on the further to explain everything about Mary and about what Joseph needed to do.

What does Joseph teach us? All of us could have been in a similar situation of Joseph not able to make sense of what is happening in our life. In such circumstances it is easy to give up, it is easy to become frustrated and give into the pressures. St. Joseph remained calm. What calmed his troubled mind and heart was his trust in the Lord that He has the control of his life. He silently prays asking God to lead him and guide him. How soon do we give into dejection in the face of confusion and uncertainty? How trusting we are in God especially when thing do not go our way? How much do we believe that God is in control of our lives? Do we sharpen the ears of our heart to listen to God speaking? How courageous we are to allow God to lead us? Do we dare to realize the God’s dream for us which is to be his sons and daughters who will never let Him down?

Having heard the angel of the Lord, it is said in the Gospel, Joseph did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him. What a man of faithfulness! Once he knew this is what God wants of him, Joseph does not question, does not find short cut, does not complain but simply and faithfully carries the words of God in his life. It is fulfilling God’s will , God’s plan and God’s wish, Joseph finds the meaning of life and happiness in life. He does not bother what the world will say of him, what his peers will speak about him, he does not bother what his future is but surrenders completely before God’s will.

In the scale of one to ten, what is the rate of our faithfulness to God in every aspect of our life? Let us take time to answer: In the scale of one to ten, what is the rate of our faithfulness to God in every aspect of our life? None can refute the fact that Joseph scores 10 out of 10! What about me? There are so many things that the Lord has commanded me – have I carried them all out in my life. Where does my happiness lie? Where do I find the meaning of life – in God or where else?

It is interesting that St. Joseph comes across in the scripture as a man of no words – quite and silent! Even in this passage of Annunciation, there is hardly any word that Joseph speaks in contrast to Mary who in fact converses with the Angel and Jesus our Lord. St. Joseph is simply a man of silence. Yes. Words do not define Joseph but his actions, what he did and how faithfully he lived his life. Joseph chose to be silent but chose to live an action-packed life. What matters the most in life is the action – what we do with our life, how we listen to God’s word and how we fulfil God’s plan in our life.

We need the mind and heart of St. Joseph as we await the Lord’s coming not just in this Christmas which is remembering the Bethlehem-event but the Second Coming of Jesus wherein we shall give an account of our life lived on this earth. The righteousness of Joseph, the silence of St. Joseph, the dreaming of St. Joseph, the courage of St. Joseph and the faithfulness of St. Joseph are what we need for our life, against which, we need to judge our life as Christians!

St. Joseph did what he had to – faithfully without a compromise -for the first Christmas- Jesus to be born. Can I do what I have to, Can you do what you have to – to let Jesus be born in our hearts and in our lives so that we too may be beside the babe of Bethlehem beholding the face of the Divine just as Joseph in the stable.

Second Sunday of Advent, Cycle A Sunday, December 8, 2019

First Reading
Isaiah 11:1-10

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 72:1-2,7-8,12-13,17

Second Reading
Romans 15:4-9

Gospel Reading
Matthew 3:1-12

 Repent

 I am sure, John the Baptist, does not figure in any of our Christmas Cards! He is not part of the Nativity Scene. He is an essential figure in the days before the day of the Nativity – the Prophet of the messiah. In the hustle and bustle of Christmas, we shall not forget the person of John the Baptist. This is the reason; we get to hear from him today -a message we cannot afford to ignore!

“Repent” is the message we hear from St. John the Baptist. Not something new! But a familiar word especially during this season of Advent! St. John the Baptist proclaim this call to repent at the time of first coming of Jesus. We hear the same message today as we await the second coming of Jesus. John the Baptist was sent by God to prepare the path for Jesus the Messiah and prepare the hearts of the people. As we hear the same message today, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”, St. John the Baptist invites us to prepare our hearts by walking the path of repentance so that we Jesus comes, He will find us prepared, awake and worthy!

John the Baptist want the people to take a close look at their lives and confess that they had rough places within them that needed smoothing. He wants people to take a public vow that they would try to straighten out the crooked parts of their lives and be baptized in the Jordan River as a sign before God that they intended to change their ways. His call to the people of his day was to encourage them not to run away from their problems, not to avoid God’s judgment, not to try to flee from the wrath to come, but to change their lives and, in doing so, change their world. This is the same call for us today.

Repent is always associated with Sin. Repent implies that we turn away from sin and walk in the path of righteousness. The question there is not about repentance, everyone of us agrees, that we all stand in need of repentance. The question is repentance from what? Sin – What is sin? We cannot talk about sin in general terms. Sin is personal. I need talk about “My” sins. Hence is the need for personal examination and introspect of life to identify what sins I suffer from. I need to identify my sin, name my sin and only then I can repent.

Every Mass begins with the invitation to repent. We all say the prayer of repentance, “I confess”. When we say during this prayer “through my fault, through my fault and through my grievous fault” – what “fault” do I mean? Do I really recall that fault, that sin of mine or the word ‘fault’ is just impersonal? Repentance is not possible without the acknowledgement, confession and feeling sorrow for what I have done in my life.

When John the Baptist says today – Repent. It is a personal invitation to each one of us. To respond to this invitation, I need to recognize personally what do I need to repent from? Is it my anger with my spouse? Is it my selfishness that I cared less for the other? Is it my lust? Is it my greed that I did not care to help the other? Is it my disrespect to my parents or elders? Is it my wrong choice the other day? Is it my deliberate act of missing prayers and mass? Is it my laziness? Is it my gossip? Is it my habitual swearing? For repentance to be meaningful and fruitful, we need to recognize our ‘real acts’ of sin.

Repentance does not stop with the recognition of the misdeed, feeling sorrow for the same and confessing it. In the words of John, the Baptist, “produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance.” So, it is the good fruits meaning our changed behaviour, not just the will and intent to be better, but showing the conversion of heart in real actual deeds what completes the process of repentance.

John the Baptist warns the pharisees and Sadducees telling them that they should not presume that they had Abraham as their father and therefore no repentance was required. John the Baptist is straight forward, he says, “God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones.
Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that does not bear good fruit
will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” He called on the pharisees and Sadducees to mend their ways immediately and live a good life.

Advent is a season of expectation – expectation that Jesus our Lord will come again. It is this expectation that forms our faith which we profess in these words – he will come again to judge the living and dead. It is this which resounds in the entire liturgy during the Advent – in the Liturgy of the hours, readings and symbols. However, the question we need to ask ourselves is how seriously this expectation affects our view of God, our life, our attitudes and our relationship with one another.

 That Jesus will come again is an expectation that should shape our behaviour in such a way that when Jesus does come, he is not shocked and surprised at how our life is but rather he is pleased to see us living worthy of his call as his children. The season of Advent challenges us to prepare the way for Jesus to come in our hearts and lives. Repentance is the preparation! There is no substitute to it. Only a repentant heart can receive Jesus.

The first coming that John the Baptist refers to in the Gospel serves as a reminder for the second coming. So, between the first and second coming, we have this season of advent, liturgically just four weeks but our entire life is a season of advent for we strive all through our life to make ourselves worthy of God’s kingdom! Let us rise above mere Christmas external preparations and go deeper into ourselves for internal preparation for the coming of Christ.

Jesus does not need a crib anymore! He already had the best crib ever! So do not waste time in making one. Jesus needs our life and our heart! Let us spend time in converting our life and heart as crib for Jesus Christ. He will then find them to be the best too!

 

 

Advent expectation, Advent urgency and Advent preparedness (First Sunday of Advent – year A)

• Isaiah 2:1-5  •
• Psalm 122  •
• Romans 13:11-14  •
• Matthew 24:36-44

Another Year! Another Season! Another Advent! We observed the same the last year! The year before! what is new this year? what is different this year?

While the significance, importance, meaning and essence of this season remain intrinsically the same every year and always, the difference/newness of the season lies in you and me! It is who we make this season more different than year before, newer than year before.

As a year is gone by since I observed the season of Advent and as I begin another season of advent this year, how different am I today in terms of my relationship with Jesus our Lord? What good has the season of advent done in my life last year?

Do I stand here as a renewed person with a new outlook on my life, on my community, on my ministry and so on because the Season of Advent in 2018 changed my life?

If the last season of Advent did not have any impact, effect and consequence in my life, how meaningful is it going to be this year? Can I at the end of this season of advent be a new person, a different person that what I am now – grown in my relationship with God and others? Is there something that I need to work on in my life during this season so that my life becomes new/different/better?

Some probing questions as we begin this season of Advent.

The call of the season of Advent echoes in the readings of today. Isaiah begins his proclamation with a tone of expectation and invitation– “In days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest mountain… Come, Let us climb the Lord’s mountain” St. Paul begins is exhortation with a sense of urgency, “ You know the time; it is the hour for your to awake from sleep, the day is at hand.”  Jesus begins his message of waring with a test for our preparedness, “you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the son of man will come.”

The season of Advent is a time of expectation – eager wait for the coming of Jesus Christ. The season of Advent is a time of urgency – It is already time for Jesus to come, the day is at hand. The season of Advent is a time for preparation – Let us stay awake so that Jesus may find us prepared to receive him.

These words like ‘expectation’, ‘urgency’ and ‘preparedness are not some liturgical and ritual vocabulary that we use them in prayers/Mass/reflections but they contain in them the spirit/core/essence of the entire season of Advent and profound implications for our life.

It is our Christian expectation that Jesus our Lord will come again. It is this expectation that forms our faith which we profess in these words – he will come again to judge the living and dead. It is this which resounds in the entire liturgy during the Advent – in the Liturgy of the hours, readings and symbols. However, the question we need to ask ourselves is how seriously this expectation affects our view of God, our life, our attitudes and our relationship with one another. That Jesus will come again is an expectation that should shape our behaviour in such a way that when Jesus does come, he is not shocked and surprised at how our life is but rather he is pleased to see us living worthy of his call as his children. This is the meaning of Advent Expectation!

This season of Advent creates a sense of urgency. This is intended so that we may not afford to waste time anymore but will attend to our spiritual life with much seriousness. The sense of urgency is because we shall not postpone our conversion but start the path of renewal with immediacy. St. Paul is very straightforward in this regard – It is already time now for you to wake up. The day is at hand. Hurry! Speed up! St. Paul says throw off the works of darkness – what could they be – our unreasonable anger, hoarding vengeance, arrogance, ego, impatience, gossip, indifference, pride, vainglory, selfishness, obsession with name, fame and money and so on. St Paul advises us to put on the armour of light. What could they be? – forgiveness, kindness, humility, patience, honesty, loving, helpful, selfless, generosity, peace loving and so on. St. Paul climaxes with a beautiful verse, “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.” We need to put on Jesus in our lives, meaning we need to become like Him in every way possible, particularly, in our relationship with God the Father and in our relationship with one another. To become like Jesus, we cannot wait any more and we cannot delay anymore. Today is the time! Now is the time! This is the meaning of Advent Urgency!

Jesus speaks of laxity and lethargy as preventing one from standing prepared to meet the Son of Man. The analogy of thief breaking into house at an unexpected hour calls for the house owner to be vigilant at all time and prepared always to counter the onslaught of the thief. The words like – stay wake, be prepared highlights the Advent preparedness. We don’t know, not even our Lord himself as he says in the scripture when the son of man will come again. It is not for us to bother ‘how’ and ‘when’ but what we need to care is how prepared we are when He does come again. In the opening prayer today, we prayed in these words, “Grant your faithful, we pray, almighty God, the resolve to run forth to meet your Christ
with righteous deeds at his coming…” It is only when we stand sufficiently prepared, we can run forth to meet Christ. If not, we will just start preparing at his coming and we will not have much time and we will be delayed. Our righteous deeds are our preparations – being righteous means being a gospel person! This is the meaning of Advent Preparedness!

Did I forget to speak about Christmas during the last 10 minutes the signs of which are already seen. No, consciously avoided! Christmas is the culminating celebration of the season of Advent during which we thank God for his first coming but it is not all! If it is so – it is not complete and whole. Even if we don’t celebrate Christmas at the end of this season, it would not be a matter of importance but if we forget the meaning and implications of Advent and if we are not prepared and ready for the coming of the Son of Man, we will be condemning ourselves and Christmas becomes a meaningless spiritual exercise.

The first coming serves as a reminder for the second coming. So between the first and second coming, we have this season of advent, liturgically just four weeks but our entire life is a season of advent for we strive all through our life to make ourselves worthy of God’s kingdom! Let Advent expectation, Advent urgency and Advent preparedness guide our days during this season. Let us rise above mere Christmas external preparations and go deeper into ourselves for internal preparation for the coming of Christ.

Jesus does not need a crib anymore! He already had the best crib ever! So do not waste time in making one. Jesus needs our life and our heart! Let us spend time in converting our life and heart as crib for Jesus Christ. He will then find them to be the best too!