God is constantly asking people to do difficult things, as we are
reminded on this feast of St. Joseph the Worker. Joseph was given a
particularly challenging set of tasks: marry your betrothed even though she is
pregnant with a child you didn’t father; flee to a foreign land to protect the
child; model for your exceptional foster son how to listen to and obey the God
of your ancestors.
We can only imagine how Joseph felt about these requests.
Scripture tells us that he was “troubled” upon learning Mary was pregnant and
had determined to pursue divorce quietly as an honorable course of action, only
to accede to God’s request that he take Mary and the child into his home. Did Joseph
feel resentful? Aggrieved? Betrayed? Embarrassed? Played for a fool? Whatever
his emotions, he trusted God, which led him to obey.
When we make the choice to love God and love one another, we can
anticipate being asked to do difficult things, because love requires shedding the
self that is fearful and desires superiority. Joseph was able to change his idea
of what it means to be upright and overcome his mistrust of Mary because love enabled
him to do what God asked of him. Thus Joseph became a key partner in God’s plan
to become incarnate in Jesus.
Like Joseph, we don’t know exactly what our obedience to God and
to one another will lead to, except that it will bring new life both to us and
to the world. Yes, we are asked to do difficult things. But as Mary Oliver asks
us to consider, “Listen—are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life?”
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