Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “Such was his intention when suddenly the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said to him: «Joseph son of David, have no fear about taking Mary as your wife. It is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived this child. She is to have a son and you are to name him Jesus because he will save his people from their sins»” (Mt 1, 20-21).
These words of the Gospel of Matthew, known as the ‘Annunciation to Joseph’ are Heaven’s intervention to help Joseph understand God’s marvellous plan for Mary of Nazareth his promised bride, that “It is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived this child”. As soon as the “just man” hears the Angel’s words he does not hesitate: he believes with his whole self, throwing himself into an adventure which was to take him a long way, and eventually make him Patron Saint of the Universal Church.
The faith of Joseph is impressive: he has total trust in God, in his almighty power, he does not ask for a sign, he makes no objection. This will be the style of his life in this adventure in which he will be the Spouse of the Mother of the Redeemer, chaste foster father to the Son of God. We must imitate him because this is the only way to find true faith free of any burden. Joseph uses his intellect, but first allows himself to be illuminated by the Word of Truth subjecting his own thought to the demands of this Word.
Mary in this is a model and a help. The first to have total trust in God Mary precedes her spouse on the path of total obedience; certainly like Joseph, Our Lady knows the “difficulty” of believing and with a loving smile encourages her spouse faced with the great silence on the part of God which often accompanies events in our life of communion with Him. Joseph does not fear this silence because he has learned from Mary that God’s silence is a sign of His infinite Mystery rather than His absence
When something is too great and too beautiful we too say it cannot be described in words; we use silence to express our wonder better than any words. Joseph is a master of silence, because his life was one of listening to the Truth. People unable to be silent, to surround themselves with silence, will never meet God.
There comes to mind that marvellous passage on the prophet Elijah who was to meet the Lord: “The Lord will be passing by. A strong and heavy wind was rending mountains and crushing rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake there was fire but the Lord was not in the fire. After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound” (1 Kings 19, 11-12). The Lord was in that breeze and inward silence was necessary to hear it. God loves to “move in this breeze” (cfr. Gen 3, 8)!
One of the main obstacles on the path of prayer is precisely noise, inward and exterior, but especially inward noise which prevents us from enjoying God’s presence. How many wonderful “silences” filled the life of the Holy Family of Nazareth spaces for ineffable words, like prayer which becomes so intense that it loses itself in silent adoration.
In this Season of Lent we must reconvert ourselves to silence, practice fasting of superfluous and banal words, and this will render even the most necessary words, sober and simple. May Saint Giuseppe help us to live a more intense life of prayer; so we make our own the Holy Father’s words: “Let us invoke this great Saint that the People of God believing, celebrating and living with faith the Eucharistic Mystery may be filled with Christ’s love and share its fruits of joy and peace with all humanity” (Benedict XVI, Angelus 18 March 2007). (Agenzia Fides 21/3/2007; righe 45 parole 671)
