... behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of
David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife ...Then Joseph being raised
from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him... - St. Matthew
1:20, 24
St. Joseph is presented as a “just man” (Matthew 1:19),
faithful to God’s law, ready to do His will. On account of this he enters into
the mystery of the Incarnation after an angel of the Lord appears to him in a
dream and tells him: "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary
your wife with you. In fact the child that has been conceived in her comes from
the Holy Spirit; she will give birth to a son and you will call him Jesus: he
in fact will save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:20-21).
Forgetting the thought of repudiating Mary in secret, he takes her in because
his eyes now see the work of God in her. - Pope Benedict XVI, Angelus,
19 December 2010
Many writings on St. Joseph make reference to his silence,
as not a single spoken word by him is recorded in the Scriptures. Many of us
would have liked some sort of Fiat or
Canticle from St. Joseph, since even Zechariah, who at first doubted the
angel’s words (Lk. 1:11-19,) has a song of praise after the birth of his son (Lk.
1:68-79.) However, until the birth, Zechariah was made mute for his disbelief,
whereas when the angel appeared to St. Joseph, his silence was not a
chastisement but his own choice.
If we read carefully, St. Joseph actually has a lot
to say to us – not in his words but in his deeds. Each time the angel
instructed him, revealing God’s Will through his dreams, immediately upon
waking he responded in action. He did not waste time in questions and
wondering, but obeyed and acted as God wanted. St. Francis of Assisi once said,
“Proclaim the Gospel always, if necessary use words.” Joseph did this long
before St. Francis' observation. He may have had a verbal Fiat (“Let it be done unto me”) or Magnificat (“My soul magnifies the
Lord,") but his words were not recorded for us. The Lord did not include
St. Joseph’s actual words in
the Scriptures, choosing instead to give us his example of quiet contemplation
and perfect obedience – a total submission to God’s Will. His actions are his “Fiat” and his “Magnificat," and for many of us
who are “all talk," the Lord gives us the silent but active example of St.
Joseph – who wasn’t “all
talk," but a man of action, ready and willing to serve his Lord. - J.
Rodrigues
Behold, an angel of the Lord
appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his
mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is
about to search for the child, to destroy him." And he rose and took the
child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until
the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the
prophet, "Out of Egypt I called my son." - St. Matthew 2:13-15
Consider the ready obedience of St. Joseph, who raised no
doubts about the time of the journey, nor about the manner of traveling, nor
about the place in Egypt in which they were to stay, but immediately prepared
to set out. He instantly makes known to Mary the command of the angel, and on
the same night sets out without guide on a journey of 400 miles through mountains,
across rugged roads and deserts. … How much St. Joseph must have suffered on
the journey into Egypt in seeing the sufferings of Jesus and Mary! … Joseph was
indeed conformed in all things to the will of the Eternal Father, but his
tender and loving heart could not but feel pain in seeing the Son of God
trembling and weeping from cold and the other hardships which He experienced on
that hard journey. - St. Alphonsus Liguori
Behold, an angel of the Lord
appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Arise, and take the child and
His mother, and go into the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s
life are dead.” So he arose and took the child and his mother, and went into
the land of Israel. - St. Matthew 2:19-22
And so Jesus' way back to Nazareth from Bethlehem passed
through Egypt. Just as Israel had followed the path of the exodus "from
the condition of slavery" in order to begin the Old Covenant, so Joseph,
guardian and cooperator in the providential mystery of God, even in exile watched
over the one who brings about the New Covenant. - Blessed Pope John Paul II,
Redemptoris Custos
But hearing that Archelaus was
reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, Joseph was afraid to go there;
and being warned in a dream, he withdrew into the region of Galilee. And he
went to a town called Nazareth. - St. Matthew 2:22-23
This passage from Matthew (2:22-23) is often passed over
quickly without a word or thought, but I believe that even this scene merits
mention. In it we find that Joseph is afraid to return to Judea with his
family, fearing that Herod’s successor would seek to destroy his Son. Though
St. Joseph has faith he still has a temporal fear which is a part of the human
condition and the Heavenly Father understands this. So once again He sends His
messenger to instruct Joseph on what he is to do. This mention of Joseph’s fear
speaks volumes not only about our human frailties but also of God’s compassion.
The Heavenly Father allows Joseph to have, to a certain extent, self reliance even
if it allows for him to fear. But the Lord is merciful, and so He sends his
messenger to advise Joseph on the course he should take, to bring his family
safely out of exile. - J. Rodrigues
The espousals between Joseph and Mary are an episode of
great importance. Joseph was of the royal line of David and, in virtue of his
marriage to Mary, would confer on the Son of the Virgin - on God's Son - the
legal tile of "Son of David," thus fulfilling the prophecies. The
espousals of Joseph and Mary are, because of this, a human event, but
determinant in the history of humanity's salvation, in the realization of the
promises of God; because of this, it also has a supernatural connotation, which
the two protagonists accept with humility and trust. Pope Benedict XVI, Vatican Gardens, 5 July 2010
One of the most amazing features of this marriage is that it was not the wine
servant, whose business it was to service the wine, who noticed the shortage,
but rather Our Blessed Mother. (She notes our needs before we ourselves feel
them.) She made a very simple prayer to her Divine Son about the empty wine
pots when she said: "They have no wine." Hidden in the words was not
only a consciousness of the power of her Divine Son, but also an expression of
her desire to remedy an awkward situation. Perhaps the Blessed Mother had already
seen Our Lord work many miracles in secret-although He had not yet worked a
single one in public. For if there had not already been a consciousness of the
truth that He was the Son of the Omnipotent God, she would not have asked for a
miracle. Some of the greatest miracles of the world have similarly been done
through the influence of a mother: "The hand that rocks the cradle is the
hand that rules the world." The
answer of Our Blessed Lord was, "Woman what is that to me? My hour is not
yet come."
That is where devotion to Mary comes in. The people at the table did not know
what they needed to maintain the joy of the marriage feast, even when the Lord
was in their midst. There are many of us who would not come to Our Lord, unless
we had someone who knows our needs better than we know ourselves, and who will
ask Our Lord for us. This role of Mary makes her acceptable to everyone. Those at
the marriage table did not need to know she was the Mother of the Son of God in
order to receive the benefit of her Divine Son. But one thing is certain-no one
will ever call on her without being heard, nor without being finally led to her
Divine Son, Jesus Christ, for Whose Sake she alone exists-for Whose Sake she
was made pure -and for Whose Sake she was given to us.
