Solemnity of Saint Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary
What can be said about a man who did not leave a single word?! Can he teach us something today? Let us try to look at him as someone that God gives us, firstly on our Lenten conversion path, and secondly, at a specific moment in our lives, in the history of the world in which we live.
Holy Father Francis recently wrote: Prayer unites us with God, Mercy with our neighbor, fasting with ourselves. I like to say that true spirituality - not necessarily religiousness, but spirituality - presupposes the ability to connect with oneself. I can perform various pious practices, including ascetic ones, be very zealous in this, and at the same time, unfortunately, I can never touch the bottom of my entanglement, my sin, and pride. I will always have something to explain myself: because… I go to church, I deny myself this or that, I say prayers… but I do not meet God, other people or myself.
Recently, I was struck by this thought: you can join a convent, you can get married and… never trust another person. You can live in a role, but not live in a true vocation, trust in God, trust in other people, preform authentic service. However, we can still control everything - and that is how most people live.
And here we come to Saint Joseph, who ... lost control when he found out that his spouse was pregnant. His world probably collapsed. Yet it did not collapse. How is it with us? When is our world collapsing? What do we do then? Let us look at Joseph and ask him the question: Joseph, where did you find the strength and power to accept your spouse, to trust God's secret? Listening to today's Gospel one can say: it is simple, God told him in a dream what to do! Yes, really is it simple?
And you remember some dreams that are important to you, when you wake up in the morning and say to yourself: it is just a dream, it is nothing! We know from our own experience how difficult it is for us to accept God's Word. Why? Because it does not find empty space in us. Everything in us is filled with thoughts: those about the past, those about the future, experiences, memories, needs, feelings, information, text messages, e-mails, websites, devotional articles and conferences. Joseph: what do you say? And Joseph in response ... is silent! This is his answer and clue for Lent, for this particular moment in our life, and maybe more - an invitation to change our way of functioning. Someone offended us: a superior, a confrere, a spouse, a random person. Do we need to complain to others right away or have bad feelings about it? Why not be silent? Why not enter the sanctuary of our heart and like Saint Joseph to remain silent in God's presence?
The world today has gone crazy. In pursuit of happiness and having modern means of communication, wants to know everything, have all the answers, comment on everything. Even if we do not know anything about it or if a given thing does not concern us, we must comment and destroy it often! How many unnecessary and sometimes even poisonous comments. And the temptation is great: because it is enough to click, because it is enough to send even a pious text message, because it is enough to open our mouth.
Silence at the right moment is a sign of humility and spiritual maturity. It takes a lot of courage. Joseph is silent because he allows God to act. When we talk too much, we limit God's action. St. Paul will say that the first quality of love is patience. The ability to waitand patience, is some form of suffering inflicted on our false self. And without this cleansing suffering, we cannot convert. Holy Father Francis reminds us that fasting connects us with ourselves. It teaches us to be in the silence of the heart. In a sanctuary where God himself lives. By silence, Joseph could be the guardian of the Word. He didn't drown it out.
As I was preparing for today’s meditation, I realized that the silence that Jesus often referred to, even when questioned by the high priest about the accusations made against him, was the silence that St. Joseph thought him. If Jesus learned silence from Joseph, why shouldn't we? St. Joseph, be our patron of a wise and patient silence that will lead us to meet God, other people and ourselves in the sanctuary of our heart.
Let me conclude this reflection with a prayer inspired by Fr. Wilfrid Stinissen OCD:
Shut up, be quiet
God, you have so much to tell me, but it is hard for me to hear you in all the noise I make in and around me.
Help me to leave the outer and inner discourse and go into myself, into my own center, where you reside in me and restore my inner unity and fullness.
Give me the courage to be silent in this gossipy world. That I would not waste my strength on empty words and a crowd of unnecessary thoughts.
I know that I do not have to pay too much attention to what others say and think. I want to stay in my center in inner recollection, because there, in my depths, I am able to hear your message, your word, which is life.
You promised me that if I would listen to the Word, Jesus, your Son, He will teach me everything. You promised that in Him I would know You, my Beloved Father. And I will know the Holy Spirit who opens my soul to your word.
Let me be silent and open to You, God. Let me open to the inner life of the Holy Trinity in whose womb I can find my home forever. Amen.
Let us now pause for a moment of silence. Saint Joseph, Pray for us
Until Tomorrow
fr. george