St. Joseph was “a man of dreams… who knows how to accompany others in silence,” Pope Francis reflected during his homily on the feast of St. Joseph in 2018. When first faced with something he did not understand, he preferred to step back but his dreams helped him to discern his mission. So St. Joseph took up his new role wholeheartedly, and helped “in silence” to raise the Son of God.
The gospels do not give much information on the rest of the family of Joseph except that he belonged to the family of David. But infancy narratives give ample references to the absolute silence of the parents of the Son of God regarding their ‘divine secret’ and no one in the village of Nazareth suspected anything unusual about this “carpenter’s son.” Joseph remained a righteous man: law-abiding, hard-working and humble, caring for his wife and son.
“Joseph went in search for a place for the child to be born. He looked after him, helped him grow, and taught him to work: many things… in silence. He never took possession of the child for himself. He silently let him grow. He let him grow: This idea could help us immensely, we who by nature always want to stick our noses in everything, especially in the lives of others… And we start gossiping, talking… But Joseph let him grow, silently watching over him and helping him.”
Pope Francis said many parents have the wise attitude of caring for their children without being overbearing. He said they have the capacity to wait, without immediately yelling if the child makes a mistake. It’s important to know how to wait, he said, before saying something to help them grow. God, the pope said, has the same patient attitude with his children and therefore, he waits in silence.
The Holy Father also explored St. Joseph’s capacity to dream, saying he was a practical man but kept his heart open like “a man of dreams” and not like “a dreamer.”
“Dreams are a privileged place to seek after truth, because there we cannot defend ourselves against the truth. They come, and God speaks through dreams. Not always, because often it is our subconscious that comes forth, but many times God chooses to speak through dreams. He often did so in the Bible. In dreams. But Joseph was a man of dreams, but not a dreamer, okay? He wasn’t abstract.
Pope Francis was quick to remind his listeners not to lose the ability to dream and to open ourselves to tomorrow with trust, despite the difficulties that may come.
“Don’t lose the ability to dream the future. Each of us needs to dream about our family, our children, and our parents: to imagine how I would like their lives to go. Priests, too, need to dream about what we want for the faithful. Dream as the young dream, who are ‘unabashed’ in their dreams and find their path there. Do not lose the ability to dream, because to dream is to open the door to the future. Be fruitful in the future.”
