If God called you by name (OLMC Reflection)

Will you come and follow me
if I but call your name?
Will you go where you don’t know
and never be the same?

--The Summons

   What would you do if God called you by name? Would you think you were dreaming? Or would you listen, paying close attention?  How would you respond if he asked you to do something unthinkable, something that might cause you to be teased, mocked, even scorned? 

   St. Joseph was very much summoned by God, or maybe a better word might be invited… invited by God to do something extraordinary. Matthew’s genealogy tells us that Joseph, the husband of Mary, was the son of Jacob, who was the son of Matthan, who was the son of Eleazar, and so on, all the way back to David. Joseph is thus a prime candidate to be the adoptive father of the heir God promises David, God’s servant, whose royal throne, God says, will be firm, forever. Jesus is his heir, an heir who will call God his Father. 

   We know that Joseph himself had strong models in faith, not only his ancestor David, but also, long before, his forefather Abraham. Both Abraham and David had deep faith in the Lord; when God calls each of them, they say yes. 

   Surely Abraham and David were inspirations to Joseph!  And so, when God calls Joseph (by name!) and tells him not to be afraid to take Mary into his home, (which would have been scandalous!), not to be afraid because it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived, Joseph says yes… not in words (he never speaks!) but in actions: he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him, and took his wife into his home. It’s extraordinary! 

   Joseph doesn’t know where God is taking him, but he listens to God's request. He will go, and will be transformed. Through his care and love for Jesus, God’s love is shown, God’s name is known. Joseph is not afraid to leave himself behind and focus on those around him first and foremost. What gives him the strength to say yes to this extraordinary invitation?  Faith.

   Joseph must have been a man of incredible faith and love, full of compassion. Matthew's gospel describes Joseph as a just man, a man of strong character. And he must love Mary tenderly; he is willing to care for her and her child -- their child. Joseph will do whatever it takes to protect them, taking them to Egypt to escape Herod, anxiously searching for the twelve-year-old Jesus when he disappears in Jerusalem, yet accepting that Jesus must be in his Father's house, always. 

    Thinking about the story of Joseph made me reflect on my own models in faith, first and foremost among them, my parents. My mom was a fraternal twin, and her twin brother Norman was a child with Down syndrome. My grandparents both died before I was nine years old. They had cared for Norman at home in the forties and fifties and sixties, at a time when this simply was not done. 

    When my grandparents each died, the question was, where would Norman go? One of his siblings lived in a studio apartment and worked full time, another already had four boys in a house of under 1000 square feet. My mom was willing… but so, importantly, was my dad. 

    My dad had always been a strong model of faith for me. I remember seeing him kneel by his bedside every night, praying, and teaching the three of us kids to pray as well, because prayer allowed him to remain in relationship with God, and he wanted us to know that joy. Dad was generous to a fault, giving away half the produce we grew in a giant garden, sharing what he had (though he had to feed six on a factory worker’s salary), sharing with friends and family members and even strangers. 

    But it was when Norman came to live with us that I saw my dad’s tremendous faith, faith in action, and the fruits of that faith in our household. I remember being more than a little uncomfortable with my uncle’s life with Down syndrome. He looked different and he could not speak clearly, though he loved to engage, so having friends over could be a bit complicated, as we “translated” his words so they could understand him. 

    But my dad was committed to making Norman’s life as unrestricted as possible. I remember him spending hours teaching Norman over and over to tie his own shoes, and to write his name in big block letters. Like St. Joseph, my dad had an extraordinary attitude of trust in the presence of God, listening to God's words, open to all God would reveal. He knew that he was not in control, but he allowed the Lord to work through him. 

    Henri Nouwen once wrote that, when Jesus talks about faith, he means first of all to trust unreservedly that you are loved, so that you can surrender in complete trust to the love of God revealed in you! My dad did that. He said yes when God summoned him to take on something difficult, and he could do this because of his great faith. Through his willingness to be open to change, to risk the easy comforts, he revealed God’s love to me in so many extraordinary ways. I try to live up to his example.

   Whose faith has helped you to open to God’s will? Who are your models in faith? Might you include St. Joseph, or the Virgin Mary, who also said yes? Are there folks in your own life, past or present, whose faith lets God’s love be shown? Think about that… and then share their stories, if you can, allowing that faith to enter your own heart, and then spreading it far and wide, that God’s life might be grown in our world… through our faith. 

--OLMC Communion Service Reflection,
March 19, 2024

To hear John L. Bell’s hymn, “The Summons,” click on the video below: 

Image source: Gaetano Gandolfi, Joseph's Dream (c.1790), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_1:21#/media/File:'Joseph's_Dream',_painting_by_Gaetano_Gandolfi,_c._1790.jpg 
Video source