God told St. Joseph, “Do not be afraid.” These are the first words of God to Joseph in the Bible. The angel appeared to him in a dream and says, “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife.” The rest of the messages, perhaps, were easier for Joseph to accept because of the primary assurance. Once he was assured that whatever happened in his life was within the plan of God, he had nothing to be afraid of. Like Abraham of the Old Testament, Joseph of the New Testament leaps into the unknown.
Abraham was asked to leave his native land and his relatives, and he began a journey and he had no clue about his destination. The life of St. Joseph has a lot in common with Abraham. Abraham had angelic visions and he simply believed in the messages. Joseph maintains a similar profile. He too had angelic visions and messages. He simply believes, despite the message being ridiculous and illogical. How could he ever comprehend a pregnancy from the Holy Spirit?
But, that was only the beginning of his visions and messages and St. Joseph begins his run. He goes to Bethlehem at the most inconvenient time, taking his pregnant wife along, but of course, not afraid. There in Bethlehem, one might say, the worst fears of a married couple begin to unfold. The infancy narratives by the evangelists do not record any anger or frustration on the faces of Joseph or Mary. Neither of them complains, they just obey. Despite “tragedies” strike them one after another, they stay strong in faith. They were not afraid.
This is the example that Church wants us to learn from the life of St. Joseph. Believe in the promises of God, never doubt them. Life may not run smoothly as we expect them to and oftentimes, we have no explanation for why things happen in the way they happen. Yet the voice of God reverberates in our years: “Do not be afraid.”
As we turn to St. Joseph, he tells us, “Set aside your fears, your frustrations and disappointments and embrace the way things are—both the positives and the negatives— not with mere resignation, but with hope and courage.”
Pope Francis assures us that if we follow St. Joseph’s example, we will be open to the deeper meaning of our current circumstances. “It does not matter if everything seems to have gone wrong or some things can no longer be fixed,” the Holy Father writes. “God can make flowers spring up from the stony ground.”
The pope explains that Joseph turned challenges and problems into possibilities by always trusting in divine providence. “If at times God seems not to help us, surely this does not mean that we have been abandoned but instead are being trusted to plan, to be creative and to find solutions ourselves” rather than expecting God to intervene directly.
God trusts us to be creative and take initiative! So let’s turn again to St. Joseph, looking for encouragement in these trying times.
