Every episode of Joseph’s life is a crisis. He discovered that the woman to whom he was betrothed is pregnant. He resolved to divorce her quietly, but then the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream and explained the anomalous pregnancy. So Joseph understood what was happening in the context of God’s providence and he took Mary as his wife.
Next, discovering that the child was in mortal danger, Joseph took mother and baby on a perilous journey to an unknown country. Anyone who has ever been forced to move to a new city knows the anxiety that Joseph must have felt. But Joseph went because God had commanded him.
Finally, we hear of Joseph desperately seeking his lost twelve-year-old son. Quietly taking the child home, Joseph once more put aside his human feelings and trusted in the purposes of God.
The little we know about Joseph is that he experienced heartbreak, fear unto death, and a parent’s deepest anxiety. But each time, he read what happened to him as a theo-drama, not an ego-drama. This shift in attitude is what made Joseph the patron of the universal Church.
Think of the last crisis you encountered. Did you handle it as part of a theo-drama (God’s plans and purposes) or as part of an ego-drama (your own plans and purposes)? Reflect on the differences between these two perspectives and how each one shapes your attitude and behavior.
--Bishop Robert Barron, Gospel Reflection, March 19, 2020
Today is the Solemnity of St. Joseph,
Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary
& patron saint of San Francisco.
Image source: Jan de Beer, Flight into Egypt (ca. 1519-1527), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jan_de_Beer_-_The_flight_into_Egypt.jpg
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