19 March 2020
Solemnity of Saint Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary
“The Son of David will live forever” (Psalm 89)
We hear a very curious greeting today offered to Joseph by the angel in his dream. As Joseph is contemplating separating from Mary, the Angel shows up in a dream and says “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid.” This greeting is very curious because Joseph’s biological father is Jacob. The angel is greeting Joseph according to his ancestors and through his covenantal identity – Son of David. From this identity, the angel counsels Joseph to not be afraid, and to enter into God’s covenantal plan for Joseph and for the world by taking Mary into his home and being the foster father of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The angel asked Joseph to assume his deepest identity as a son of the covenant of David, and to act in trust and obedience to God who is asking Joseph to be a part of God’s salvific action in the world. Through Joseph’s actions and participation in God’s plan, there is born – through grace – a new son of David, Jesus, who will live forever.
Joseph’s dialogue with the angel becomes a model for us in our lives today. Christians, through their Baptism, are marked with this new covenantal identity, we become daughters and sons of God, brothers and sisters in Christ. This identity is our deepest and truest identity even beyond our biological identity. We are called, daily, to embrace this covenantal identity and to take a risk with the Lord, to trust in God’s invitation for our lives. God invites us to participate in his continued covenantal action in the world for the salvation of ourselves and others through Christ. Let us pray today, through the intercession of St. Joseph, to grow in our identity as being sealed in the blood of Christ as Christians, and let Joseph inspire us to act with boldness and trust in the ways God is inviting us to live with him for the conversion of the world.