May St Joseph bring the best out in us all

Dear Joseph, I have often thought of writing to you.

I suppose, given the month that’s in it and that your Feast Day is recent, now might be as good a time as any. There is something very reassuring and uplifting in a letter that acknowledges a person and expresses gratitude and, that is what this letter is about.
Put simply, Joseph, you are a mighty man. We don’t hear much about you or from you and yet you were always there when needed. It wasn’t easy for you either and no doubt you took your share of jibes not to mention the whispers that were beyond your hearing. Still somehow you heard the voices you needed to hear, quite often in the reassurance of a sound night’s sleep. Quite often those words were focused on you not needing to be afraid – that God’s plan was being fulfilled in and around you – not least in the “yes” of the woman you loved as she readjusted her dreams that God’s plan might be realised.

We still hear your repeated knocking on Bethlehem’s doors, as you looked for a little space that Mary could be at ease. We hear with you the refusals, see again the shaking heads and our hearts are with you as you wonder how this will end. Then, and thankfully, someone saw in you what we see in you – a genuine man wanting to do the best by his family, and the shed is offered. It might not have been the ideal but it sufficed. “People make places” they say, and that night you, Mary and the child to be born, proved the truth of that old saying. You turned the shed into a haven of possibility where Heaven and earth embraced, and our hope was born.

You welcomed people, shepherds, kings and locals and as they spoke of the newborn one, your faith in God’s wonderous ways was deepened and strengthened. As time went on you needed to call again on that strength and depth as you took the child and Mary to safety and stayed there for as long as it took. That is one of the great attributes you have, Joseph, the ability to stay where you are needed and for as long as you are needed.

I am glad you met Simeon and Anna – glad for them too since you and Mary allowed them into your “Temple moment” without fully knowing who they were or maybe even the full depth of meaning in their words. But you let them speak, knowing that their words were part of something beyond you and that their words would find a place for pondering in Mary’s heart. Generosity, Joseph, could be your middle name.
The woman and child were never far from you and those three days when you searched for the lost child in Jerusalem must have been a nightmare. We are told that Mary was the one to point out to Jesus how worried you both had been. I see you standing in the distance, just glad that he is found. By your side he lived and worked until the public ministry began. He learnt much from you and I am sure you were amused to hear him speak of planks and splinters as he encouraged respect in our words and dealings with others. With you, he knew better than most, the weight of the plank and the pain of the splinter. Maybe when they placed the cross on his shoulder, he thought of you again and remembered that the piece of wood can always be reshaped and given new purpose.

Anyway Joseph, thanks – hopefully you will bring out the best in all of us.
Vincent

A prayer for our bishop
This Sunday, Kevin Doran will be installed as Bishop of Achonry whilst continuing to be Bishop of Elphin. Please remember him in your prayers as he embarks on a new chapter in his ministry. Pray too for both dioceses as we explore the shared path that stretches out before us. May we recognise God’s guiding hand at work in us and for us, ‘Pilgrims of Hope’.