We do not see what we are offered. We are standing inside of a grand tale. It is much larger than we are. We cannot see how we fit into it. We cannot even see where we are in it. And yet we propose to determine our own place in this great drama. However, the Master Storyteller knows and assigns the role each one of us is to play. He will tell us, in the midst of our discernment, if we only ask Him. We will hear Him if we merely listen. When He tells us, we must choose if we accept the role he offers us. In this decision, we determine our own destiny, which is inextricably interwoven with that of others.
So Joseph, the husband of Mary the Mother of Jesus, had to decide. Earlier this week, when we celebrated the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, we heard in the Gospel reading of the day
Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
but before they lived together,
she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.
Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.
Such was his intention when, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
"Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.
For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her.
She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins."
When Joseph awoke,
he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him
and took his wife into his home.*
In how he began to relate how the birth of Jesus came to be, it is as if Saint Matthew was saying, "Let me tell you the full story." Within this story, Saint Joseph had an idea of what he was going to do. It was his own scheme. It was not God's plan.
In our lives, we are living a story larger than we realize. We have our own plans. Are our limited conceptions the same as God's boundless immensity?
Our minds are finite; God is infinite. God can, and wants to, and does devise and execute plans far greater than what we can ever possibly envision.
Joseph and Mary were betrothed. They were engaged to each other. They were not living together. She became pregnant.
When we have committed to a course of action, sometimes does something unexpected happen? How do we react?
After Joseph learns that Mary is expecting a child, he devises his strategy. He is going to divorce her, but quietly, because he doesn't want to disgrace her.
We come up with our own approach to what unfolds in our lives. Are we trying to stray from where God wants to lead us?
God told Joseph that He had intended that Mary had come to be with the child within her. Through His angel, God told Joseph not to be afraid to take Mary his wife into his home. He explained to Joseph that the child had been conceived in her through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph was to name Him Jesus, since he was destined to save people from their sins.
Do we trust God when God tells us not to fear? Do we rest secure in God? Do we welcome how the Holy Spirit seeks to work in our lives?
God seeks to give us gifts. If humans, as evil as we choose to be, know how to give our children good things, how much more will God give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?** God wants the best for us. God wants such good for us, and so loves us that God sent His Son, Jesus, the Messiah, to save us from our sins.***
If we abandon our own plans, then we can welcome what God has store for us. If we empty ourselves, then we can be filled with what God wants to give to us.
This week I've heard from both Larry and Susan, my fellow Catholic Workers here at the Redwood City Catholic Worker House, that when one is discerning one's calling, one does well if one is indifferent. That is, if you are detached from all vocational possibilities, then you can dispassionately evaluate the courses of action which rest in front of you. When you're unattached to any particular choice, then your mind is clear enough to be well-disposed to hear and listen to what God is trying to tell you.
If we stop clinging to our ideas about where we think we are supposed to be, and what we think we are supposed to do, then we are turning onto the road of objectivity. When we let go, and stop trying to demonstrate our strength, instead admitting we do not know, allowing ourselves to be humbled, then we are given the strength we need. Then we are able to discern well-reasoned, wise decisions.
Saint Joseph gave up his plan, which he had formulated without understanding where he stood in God's master plan. After he had been told what he was to do, he let go of the idea he had had to divorce his wife Mary. Joseph did as he was told. Once the angel had told him to take Mary his wife into his home, he did so. Upon being told to accept Mary as his wife, he offered his own fiat. He awoke and proclaimed through his actions that it should be done to him as he had been told by the angel.****
For his obedient submission to the will of God, Saint Joseph was rewarded. For his acquiescence to the will of God, Saint Joseph became the foster father of the Savior of Humanity, inextricably and intimately linking his destiny with that of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Do we cling to our own ideas? Will we open our hands and let go of our own plans? If we merely unclench our fists, then we are able to open them to what God wants to hand us. In what God wants to give to us, we will receive what is far better than anything we can even imagine.
We do not see what we have been promised, for we cannot see it this side of eternity. As Saint Paul wrote, we fix our hope on what is not seen.***** Yet as Saint Paul also wrote, we strive toward this goal.****** We are able to make this progress since The Way we follow is illuminated by the light of faith, as Pope Francis has told us. And so we are encouraged as we move forward, knowing that we are bound in love as part of a communion of brothers and sisters stretching out over centuries. We are inspired by the examples of faith our brothers and sisters have provided to us over the centuries. Encouraged by their witness, we are confident that we too can hear and listen to how God is also calling us to abandon our own plans and turn to Him so we can be who and what He has always intended each of us to be.
* Matthew 1:1-18, 24
** Luke 11:13
*** John 3:16
**** Luke 1:38
***** 2 Corinthians 4:18
****** Philippians 3:14
So Joseph, the husband of Mary the Mother of Jesus, had to decide. Earlier this week, when we celebrated the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, we heard in the Gospel reading of the day
Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
but before they lived together,
she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.
Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.
Such was his intention when, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
"Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.
For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her.
She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins."
When Joseph awoke,
he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him
and took his wife into his home.*
In how he began to relate how the birth of Jesus came to be, it is as if Saint Matthew was saying, "Let me tell you the full story." Within this story, Saint Joseph had an idea of what he was going to do. It was his own scheme. It was not God's plan.
In our lives, we are living a story larger than we realize. We have our own plans. Are our limited conceptions the same as God's boundless immensity?
Our minds are finite; God is infinite. God can, and wants to, and does devise and execute plans far greater than what we can ever possibly envision.
Joseph and Mary were betrothed. They were engaged to each other. They were not living together. She became pregnant.
When we have committed to a course of action, sometimes does something unexpected happen? How do we react?
After Joseph learns that Mary is expecting a child, he devises his strategy. He is going to divorce her, but quietly, because he doesn't want to disgrace her.
We come up with our own approach to what unfolds in our lives. Are we trying to stray from where God wants to lead us?
God told Joseph that He had intended that Mary had come to be with the child within her. Through His angel, God told Joseph not to be afraid to take Mary his wife into his home. He explained to Joseph that the child had been conceived in her through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph was to name Him Jesus, since he was destined to save people from their sins.
Do we trust God when God tells us not to fear? Do we rest secure in God? Do we welcome how the Holy Spirit seeks to work in our lives?
God seeks to give us gifts. If humans, as evil as we choose to be, know how to give our children good things, how much more will God give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?** God wants the best for us. God wants such good for us, and so loves us that God sent His Son, Jesus, the Messiah, to save us from our sins.***
If we abandon our own plans, then we can welcome what God has store for us. If we empty ourselves, then we can be filled with what God wants to give to us.
This week I've heard from both Larry and Susan, my fellow Catholic Workers here at the Redwood City Catholic Worker House, that when one is discerning one's calling, one does well if one is indifferent. That is, if you are detached from all vocational possibilities, then you can dispassionately evaluate the courses of action which rest in front of you. When you're unattached to any particular choice, then your mind is clear enough to be well-disposed to hear and listen to what God is trying to tell you.
If we stop clinging to our ideas about where we think we are supposed to be, and what we think we are supposed to do, then we are turning onto the road of objectivity. When we let go, and stop trying to demonstrate our strength, instead admitting we do not know, allowing ourselves to be humbled, then we are given the strength we need. Then we are able to discern well-reasoned, wise decisions.
Saint Joseph gave up his plan, which he had formulated without understanding where he stood in God's master plan. After he had been told what he was to do, he let go of the idea he had had to divorce his wife Mary. Joseph did as he was told. Once the angel had told him to take Mary his wife into his home, he did so. Upon being told to accept Mary as his wife, he offered his own fiat. He awoke and proclaimed through his actions that it should be done to him as he had been told by the angel.****
For his obedient submission to the will of God, Saint Joseph was rewarded. For his acquiescence to the will of God, Saint Joseph became the foster father of the Savior of Humanity, inextricably and intimately linking his destiny with that of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Do we cling to our own ideas? Will we open our hands and let go of our own plans? If we merely unclench our fists, then we are able to open them to what God wants to hand us. In what God wants to give to us, we will receive what is far better than anything we can even imagine.
We do not see what we have been promised, for we cannot see it this side of eternity. As Saint Paul wrote, we fix our hope on what is not seen.***** Yet as Saint Paul also wrote, we strive toward this goal.****** We are able to make this progress since The Way we follow is illuminated by the light of faith, as Pope Francis has told us. And so we are encouraged as we move forward, knowing that we are bound in love as part of a communion of brothers and sisters stretching out over centuries. We are inspired by the examples of faith our brothers and sisters have provided to us over the centuries. Encouraged by their witness, we are confident that we too can hear and listen to how God is also calling us to abandon our own plans and turn to Him so we can be who and what He has always intended each of us to be.
* Matthew 1:1-18, 24
** Luke 11:13
*** John 3:16
**** Luke 1:38
***** 2 Corinthians 4:18
****** Philippians 3:14
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