Saint Joseph

The Collect
O God, who from the family of your servant David raised up Joseph to be the guardian of your incarnate Son and the spouse of his virgin mother: Give us grace to imitate his uprightness of life and his obedience to your commands; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Psalm
89:1-4, 26-29

The Readings
II Samuel 7:4, 8-16     +     Romans 4:13-18      +      Luke 2:41-52

When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, "Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety." He said to them, "Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" But they did not understand what he said to them.
~Luke 2:48-50

The Las Vegas based rock band The Killers has had a tradition of releasing an original, non-traditional Christmas song each year around the holidays. One year, they took St. Joseph as their theme: imagining what it must have been like for him, being chosen to be the father of this strange, wonderful, precocious child. We hear in the scriptures about Mary’s "pondering in her heart" and we’ve done quite a bit of pondering about her--consider the ubiquity of the song "Mary, Did You Know?". But Joseph surely pondered, as well. And it can’t have been easy. In their song, The Killers ask Joseph if he ever wanted to go back to the simplicity of just being Joseph the carpenter, in his shop among his tools. The title of the song is, "Joseph, Better You Than Me."

I don't know if St. Joseph had those kinds of days, but I suspect he did, at least to some extent. In any event, I take some comfort in reading today's Gospel and being reminded that even Joseph and Mary, divinely chosen to be parents to the Son of God, accidentally left Jesus behind in Jerusalem and lost track of him for three whole days. Talk about a parent's nightmare.

Of course, the saints are not given to us primarily to make us feel okay about our shortcomings--they are given to us as companions in faith and exemplars of discipleship, people whose lives shine with the reflected light of Christ. And Joseph is certainly that, in his obedience and quiet faithfulness. But it is also true that the lives of even the greatest saints bear cracks. And that’s also a gift, because sometimes that is exactly what we need--someone we can turn to in those moments of confusion or even failure and hear, "Yes. I've been there, too."

Closing Prayer

Ancient of Days, Alpha and Omega, still you knew the long years of growth and learning; Lord Jesus, teach us by the example of Joseph to act in justice tempered by kindness, to be obedient to your call, and to work for the well-being of those committed to our care; make us faithful in the work you give us to do. Amen.