Joseph as a witness

Joseph must have said to himself, ‘but is what this on me though Father?’ It has been said that Joseph was much older than Mary. Being pregnant without the benefit of marriage left Mary and Joseph in an awkward position. What we are certain of is that he had a compassionate heart. Matthew 1:19 tells us that Joseph was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose Mary to public disgrace, and so had in mind to divorce her quietly.  Joseph knew what needed to be done and did it. Even if the people around him must have thought he was a fool.  He would certainly have been gone for at least 8 days and a lot can happen in a week.

We as individuals can be very harsh and unforgiving about the things people do in their own lives which really have no impact on our own lives. But we judge and condemn them, nevertheless. In this instance some of us would take offence because  Mary had brought shame on her parents.   Mary had to live with the knowledge that she was different, she must have been a little self-conscious about it, maybe even a little embarrassed and uncomfortable. She would always be remembered as Mass Joachim daughter who was pregnant before she was married.  Joseph understood that. 

Many teen mothers today probably feel the same way and must learn to live with this constant embarrassment and rise above it. But our response to persons who are in that and other difficult situations should be like Joseph’s. We should be empathetic and then protective as best we know how.  

Reflection

People will always throw our insufficiencies at us by what they say or don’t say, by what they do or don’t do. And we gauge or value ourselves against these. It is one of my many sins – being highly critical, yet being quite aware of my sameness and many insufficiencies. A constant reminder is ‘There go I, but for the grace of God’.  It is not easy to say that, because, it is not easy to empathize when you see all the missteps so glaringly and ask how come? How could you have gone down this road. Self-preservation should have stopped you. But for some, there is no light shining into their darkness, so they go deeper into the dark. The carol O little town of Bethlehem says:

Yet in the dark street shineth The everlasting Light;

The hopes and fears of all the years Are met in thee tonight.

We as individuals walk along many metaphorical dark streets. It is the divine light that we bear that shines in, through and out, allowing our hopes to be lived out, and our fears to subside. 

At a time when we recall God becoming human, we must remember why he came: – to show us a better way of life. To dispel the darkness. To allow us to understand that no matter what we are going through at this time, he is walking with us. He has promised to never leave us.  In that first Christmas, God signaled the beginning of a process for us to live better.  He began the process of wiping out idolatry, Satan, (who we give so much credit), demons (which some seem to recognize in all things), injustice, exploitation, oppression, violence, and death. He began making a new world of worship, justice, mutual support, lovingkindness, freedom, mercy, and ultimately eternal life.