Solemnity of Saint Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Today’s feast day focuses on Joseph as husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the foster father of Jesus, so today’s scriptures focus on family lineage and relationships as a way of helping us reflect on Joseph as father. In particular, I’m struck by the first of today’s possible gospel readings (Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24a) which hints at Joseph’s consternation at discovering that his betrothed wife was pregnant, and not by him.
“Joseph was a righteous man” the passage says, and with those words I envision a man like many men I have met: being a good contributor to society and a good neighbor, trying to live the scriptures, and consequently not wanting even the appearance of scandal in his home. He wants to be right with God, and so according to the law wants to marry a virgin (see Deuteronomy 22 for an example of some of the Jewish laws relating to marriage). But significantly, we read in this passage that he is not just about following the law for its own sake, but also follows the spirit of the law. He does not want to hurt Mary so seeks to “divorce her quietly.”
What a surprise it must have been, then, to have the dream and find that his views on what God wanted were not quite correct, despite the fact that he was a righteous man. But Joseph’s willingness to change shows us even more fully how much of a righteous man he was. He followed what God called him to do even though it was different from societal norms. He followed the letter and spirit of the law as far as his human understanding could take him, and then dropped all his preconceived notions to follow God’s unexpected, un-looked-for, path.
Today’s other readings emphasize God’s unexpected movement in peoples’ lives. Paul writes about the need to be righteous through faith in God and not simply through following the law (Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22). The Old Testament passage (Second Samuel 7:4-5a, 12-14a, 16) discusses God’s promise to David of an everlasting throne, which Christians read as an example of God’s different, new ideas, since David’s descendent ends up being Jesus, no earthly king.
As I read today’s readings, I was reminded of a time in my own life when I think God was calling me toward the unexpected. I once felt God nudging me to move from New Jersey, where I was studying theology at Princeton, to a much less-well-known school in Evanston, Illinois. I was desperately unhappy at Princeton but kept thinking that surely God would want me to study at a well-known, good school of theology; meanwhile, I already had well-wishers (who later became friends) in Evanston and the school felt like it was a fit for me. Despite my great unhappiness at Princeton, I cannot convey to you how difficult it was to decide to move across the country away from the apparent fame and fortune a name could provide. In the end, on the advice of a spiritual advisor, I did make the move, and never in my life have I felt more like I was flying by the seat of my pants, but all along the way were confirmations that this was where God needed me to be. I cannot claim to be righteous like Joseph, at all, and in the end I needed a push from another person even to go where God called, but I have appreciated that experience as a beginning for trying to follow God better.
As we observe today’s solemnity in honor of Joseph, and continue to move through Lent, let us think of how we might follow the letter and spirit of the law. But let us also be prepared, if the time comes, to abandon even our good intentions and ideas and follow what God has in mind for us.
- Jana M. Bennett