January 1, 2021 in the Year of St. Joseph
Listen up! Our year starts with a blessing. The First Reading from Mass today (Numbers 6:22-27) proclaims (pronounces) the great blessing given from God himself to Moses and in turn to Aaron and his sons:
The LORD bless you and keep you!
The LORD let his face shine upon
you, and be gracious to you!
The LORD look upon you kindly and
give you peace!
So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites,
and I will bless them.
Joseph was no stranger to this passage and the depth of its meaning and purpose. God’s Holy People are blessed through God’s Holy Sacrifice. This prayer was prayed daily at the temple at the end of sacrifices made to worship God the Most High.
Today the Church celebrates the wife of Joseph, Mary as the Mother of God. Always in the background, Joseph too is celebrated as the Father of God…the Word made flesh. Image how Joseph taught Jesus that blessing. Imagine how Joseph introduced the Word of God to the word proclaimed in the synagogue. Imagine how Joseph witnessed to his son what it meant to be faithful and dedicated to God and his mother. Sacred Scripture tells us that Jesus “grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him.” (Lk 2:40,52)
Think about this…who did Jesus first call father? Papa, Dada? It was Joseph! And Joseph had to have influenced Jesus’ reality of fatherhood. And it is through that same Jesus, who called Joseph dad, that we are redeemed! Jesus learned “sonship” from Joseph, and we gain “sonship” through Jesus. The Second Reading for today liturgy reminds us of that reality. (Gal 4: 4-7)
Brothers and sisters:
When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son,
born of a woman, born under the law,
to ransom those under the law,
so that we might receive adoption as sons.
As proof that you are sons,
God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts,
crying out, “Abba, Father!”
So you are no longer a slave but a son,
and if a son then also an heir, through God.
Sooooo….listen up! Here are at least two points of reflection for us.
Like Joseph, we have something to share. Joseph shared both his lineage and his life with the Savior of the World! Joseph shared the blessing of himself. So too, we have blessings to share…by our work, our words, our actions, our witness…our lives of faith. Let’s do it.
What do we share in common with Joseph? We are sons and daughters of a loving Father. God revealed himself as “Abba.” This is the image of care, mercy, sensitivity and tenderness. We have all seen it. A new mom or dad helping a child walk…at the first misstep, what do we see. The immediate reach of hands to catch, grab, hold. This is God our Father. As we begin this year, which will have its share of missteps among the blessings, reflect on that image. Our God has a reach to catch, grab and hold us.
St. Joseph, pray for us!