The role of St Joseph identifies the right combination of righteousness and mercy
Posted on December 19th 2010 in Weekly messages
There must hardly be a person left unaffected by the chaos caused by the recent snowfalls. The much trumpeted new style internet Christmas looks to be sinking amidst logistical nightmares relating to the transportation of goods. Perhaps in many areas of the world, this weather would not be judged severe but, for the British, it is enough to cause major disruption. As is so often said, the weather is beyond our control and, despite all the advances in technology, the forces of nature can throw all our plans into disarray. It is easy to see why therefore the ancient people of these lands worshipped the gods of nature in order to appease their capricious instincts. The coming of Christianity secularised the forces of nature, as these forces were seen as being created by God to manage the seasons and the cycle of life and death. The gradual abandonment of the Christian vision has left a void, and God’s action is now only seen in terms of miracles rather than everyday providence.
This shrunken vision of God’s action makes any understanding of the Virgin Birth impossible to explain. The details of the conception of Jesus will always be shrouded in mystery, but so is every other conception of a human being. The moment of conception is the moment God infuses a soul and so gives life. From a human perspective, God, as the source of life is the first cause of everything, giving life to every human being at discreet moments of time. However, from a divine perspective, that one act of giving life embraces every moment of time. The Incarnation therefore is the unique fullness of this way of giving life. Jesus Christ stands at the centre of history, something we recognise every time one uses the initials BC and AD.
This gracious act, the Incarnation, at the heart of history would not be forced on an unwilling populace. It required the perfect response of the Virgin Mary, a response made possible by her absence of sin. The multitude of religious images of the Angel Gabriel greeting the Virgin Mary should not obscure the fact that Joseph’s co-operation was also vital. Joseph is an obscure figure in the Gospels, yet what little information that is given is enough to discern his role. He was a righteous man, but also merciful. This made him the willing recipient of the angel’s message to take Mary home, and make Jesus his legal son. The desire to divorce Mary was in accord with the Law, but to do so informally, and so without apportioning blame, was the mark of mercy. The actions of Joseph brought to a conclusion the lineage that stretched from Abraham, through King David to Joseph, and so included His legal Son, Jesus Christ. It ‘allowed’ God to achieve what no human being, however enlightened, could manage, the reconciliation between God and humanity and between ourselves.
The combination of righteousness and mercy brought more than ever he could have imagined. St Joseph is therefore a good role model, because he combines both necessary attributes for the Christian life, a personal righteousness, the dedicated following of the way of the Lord, but also one of mercy in front of others. Too often one is presented with righteousness alone, which quickly leads to fundamentalism and then to violence, or to mercy alone, where nothing really matters, which leads quickly to indifference to the human condition. The Christian requires both if he or she is to be the conduit of God’s gracious action that far surpasses all human efforts.