Homily

You have probably never thought much about it, but only two of the four Gospels carry any information about the birth of Jesus. Mark and John begin their Gospels with Jesus as an adult, at the beginning of His public ministry. St. Luke's Gospel has the most amount of the colorful and positive elements that everyone associates with Christmas: angel choirs, shepherds, swaddling clothes, baby in a manger born far from His parents' home. And for Luke, the parent who gets all the focus is Mary. But in Matthew's account, the chief figure is Joseph, as we heard today. Joseph, as the adoptive father of Jesus, provides the link to King David through his genealogical history, so that the newborn son now becomes a member of the line of David.

We also read today that Joseph's fiancée who was found to be with child as the result of an action by the Holy spirit, but Joseph has no knowledge of this divine action. He knows the child to be born is not his but someone else's child, yet he does not want to subject Mary to any punishment. Since they were legally engaged, having relations with a man besides your fiancée, was considered adultery and the penalty for adultery was death by stoning. They were not yet living together, for the marriage had not been celebrated; and I think of what a hardship this news of pregnancy must have been for Joseph. Don't you think so? He was not a cartoon character whose main functions were to lead a donkey carrying Mary to Bethlehem, and filling in a bit of space so that we could have a Holy Family picture on our Christmas cards. He was a real man of flesh and blood with his own thoughts and feelings, who must have been extremely hurt when Mary told him the news. I'm sure he was looking forward to the wedding day and the start of his own family, and then he receives this news. St. Matthew doesn't tell us what thoughts were in Joseph's mind except for one thing: he did not want to see Mary put to death, or even shamed in public by denouncing her as unfaithful to her engagement contract, and unfaithful to him. He will divorce her privately.

Before that takes place, an angel appears to him in a dream telling Joseph that the child is conceived by the power of God, and he should not hesitate to marry this mother, and take her into his home, for the child will become one Who is a Savior and will deliver His people from their sins. So friends, do we think that this news is any less disturbing and frightening than the news of Mary's pregnancy? That news must have been very painful, but this news even more shocking, even more upsetting than what he already thought he knew. A virgin conceives a son, a son will be born, and He will be some kind of savior. We are so used to hearing this story, and sometimes we may also have heard pious stories about Joseph, which attempt to make him into some kind of spiritual comic book figure, and even worse those stories or commentaries that make Joseph look like a tool. He's only in the story because Mary and the baby need a man to protect them and provide them with food and shelter, but otherwise his job was to stay out of the picture as much as possible. Lord, have mercy! Joseph was a real, authentic man, and all of this must have been very hard on him.

But notice his response to the angel's message. When he wakes up he does as the Lord has commanded. He marries his fiancée and takes her into his home. He does what the Lord asks him to do. It is not in my opinion, a wise thing to believe that Joseph obeys the angel's direction because he wants to be in this position. It is not a wise thing to hold that Joseph obeys because he now understands what it's all about. That hardly seems likely, does it? "Oh, right. Virgin birth, call Him Jesus, Holy Spirit, sin-saver, got it!" I don't think that is how it worked with Joseph. The Gospel says, very simply, he just got up and did as the Lord told him. Whatever other good and sterling characteristics Joseph may have had, it's clear that Matthew praises him most for his willingness to do what God asks him to do. Period.

So I think that example can help us make more of a spiritual preparation for Christmas this week. If we could pick one thing that we know the Lord is asking us to do, and focus on this one thing every day for the coming week it would be a blessing for us. To pick one thing the Lord wants us to do, or to be, or to do better, or one thing NOT to do, or to do less and work on that thing this week in preparation for the feast. We don't need an angel in our dreams to tell us what to do, because we have the Holy Spirit to prompt us in our choice. But I strongly recommend we select something for ourselves, and in that way, we show that we also desire to do whatever the Lord tells us to do, even if it's difficult, and even if we do not always understand why we ought to do it, or not do it. To follow the Lord more closely by obeying His commandments in one particular way with more conviction and effort this week will help us to see more clearly God-become-man next Sunday.