Every time we gather to celebrate the Eucharist, we recall the new and eternal covenant that Jesus established, the covenant that establishes us as God’s family of faith and anticipates our reunion with God in heaven. And, at every Eucharistic Celebration, shortly after the bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ – the sign of that new and eternal covenant that Jesus established – the celebrant mentions Mary, Joseph, the apostles and martyrs and all the saints whom we wish to join in the glory of heaven. It is at this moment in every Eucharistic celebration that we acknowledge the eternal goal we all strive to attain. It is for this that God sent his son among us. And, it all began with the birth of Jesus which we will celebrate with great joy in just a few days.
Today, we hear about a pivotal moment in preparation for the birth of Jesus and it involves a little-known but very important person: St. Joseph. Just like Mary, we hear very little about Joseph in the Bible. Outside of Matthew’s and Luke’s infancy narratives, Joseph is mentioned only one other time in the Bible; it’s in the Gospel of John where nothing is said of him except that he was reputedly the father of Jesus. Yet, we realize the very important role that St. Joseph played in God’s plan of salvation. As with Mary, every Catholic church around the world has a statue of St. Joseph for our veneration; you see ours here on my left. Let’s examine today’s gospel passage a little for insight into Joseph’s role in the coming of our Lord. It serves as a model for the role we are all called to play today in making our Lord present in our everyday world.
We all know that Matthew’s Gospel, which will be featured throughout this liturgical year, was written to Jewish converts to Christianity who were suffering persecution both at the hands of their fellow Jews, who did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah, and the Romans, who required everyone to worship their gods. As we listen to this morning’s gospel passage, we hear that Matthew’s nativity narrative emphasizes Joseph; it is in Luke’s gospel, written to a Gentile audience, that we learn about Mary’s role in the birth of our Lord. Matthew, writing to his fellow Jews, presents Joseph as a bridge figure from one covenant to another. His name – Joseph – recalls an earlier Joseph, the son of Jacob. We’re all familiar with the covenant that God had made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Well, Joseph was a son of Jacob. You will recall that he was a dreamer who saved his family from famine. Like that Joseph, Joseph of Nazareth would meet God in dreams that revealed how to save all of God’s family in faith. Through his son, whose birth we eagerly anticipate, God would give us a new and eternal covenant, established at the Last Supper. We celebrate it here every time we gather around our Lord’s Table to celebrate the Eucharist.
Matthew tells us that Joseph was a righteous man – remember, to be righteous means to be in a right relationship with God. So, Joseph, who is in a right relationship with God, finds himself with a terrible dilemma as he learns of Mary’s pregnancy. He wants to follow God’s law, save Mary from shame and, at the same time, ensure the purity of the line of David.
Joseph’s religious heritage offers him no single answer to the dilemma presented by Mary’s pregnancy. But, with the guidance of an angel appearing in a dream, Joseph discovers how he can work within the law and make the child of God his own. “Do not be afraid,” we hear the angel assure him.
The angel in the dream instructed Joseph to call the child “Jesus,” a common name in that day that spoke of their hope in God’s saving power. As you all know, the name means “God saves.” In the act of naming him, Joseph both claimed Jesus as his own – thus placing Jesus in the line of David – and foreshadowed his adopted son’s divinely determined vocation. He would be God who saves. And, to assure the audience of early Christian Jews that would hear this account, the author of Matthew’s gospel recalls that all this took place to fulfill an ancient prophecy; we heard that in today’s first reading: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means, ‘God is with us.’” Throughout Matthew’s gospel, we hear that Jesus says and does what was foretold in prophecies from of old. This was a great assurance to the Jewish Christians who struggled with their faith in Jesus; it is an equal assurance to us today.
The time of Emmanuel – “God with us” – had come. With a lovely double entendre, Matthew goes on to relate that Joseph awoke and did what the angel had commanded. Mary’s predicament and the best of his tradition had awakened him to the new work that God was accomplishing in his day. God’s plan would prevail and, with the cooperation of Mary and her faith-filled husband, Joseph, God would come to be among us in a new and unique way – in the flesh! The new and eternal covenant would soon be established in him.
As we make our final preparations for Christmas, let us remember what we celebrate – God coming among us – and let us, like Joseph and Mary, awaken our minds and keep our hearts open to his continued working in and through us. After all, like Mary and Joseph, each of us has a unique role to play in God’s plan for the world. So, let us put our trust in God and bring his love – not our preconceived ideas – to everyone we encounter in our daily lives.