I believe it was George McDonald who said, “It is a greater compliment to be trusted than to be loved.” Now God, in a certain sense, trusts everybody. By the very act of creating a person, God says, “You have work to do and I trust you. I will be there to help, and I trust you to cooperate.”
We also know that we fail in that trust every day. And that brings us to St. Joseph.
Because we fail at this trust so often, we should look at this man God trusted most of all. Think about it. Whom would you trust with your spouse? Your mother? Your son? God trusted Joseph. I think we have the impression that Joseph sort of stood off to the side all the time, hand over his heart in wonder, while Mary and Jesus were perpetually gazing into each other’s eyes. Yet, in very real terms, Joseph was the man Jesus thought of when He said, “Father.” Joseph taught Jesus — he taught our Lord — to pray, to work, to help around the home. What can he teach us about trust?
First, Joseph was silent. That there is no recorded word of his is a fact often noted and rarely imitated. To be truly silent is to listen. Would you — could you — trust someone who didn't listen? We must be silent to listen. And by silence I don't mean simply the absence of noise, the cessation of talk, although these would be great strides. By silence I mean awareness and attention. Joseph is the personification of the verse, “Be still and know that I am God” (Ps 46:10).
There are many reasons why we are not silent. (I speak from experience.) They all come down to the fact that we want distractions. We either don't care about what is being said, or we don't want to know what is being said. It is a small but disastrous step from, “If I don't hear anything,” to “God didn't tell me anything.”
From this is Joseph's next lesson in trust. He was obedient. Once we listen, we shall hear. Once we hear, we must obey. We often approach God as though we were a union representative at a bargaining table, except that a union representative is more reasonable and less self-centered. All of us, not just religious, are called to obedience. Obedience to what God has said to us through His Church and obedience to that still, small voice with which God speaks to us individually. Our souls must be espoused to God, and the words that one spouse says to another are not “I might,” or “I'll think about it,” or “I'll get back to you on that,” but “I do.”
Joseph is called a carpenter, and it is not without reason that the man known as the master of the interior life is also the patron of workers. But the actual Latin and Greek words mean, literally, a “maker,” a “doer.” Joseph was by occupation and nature a man who gets things done. In the Gospels, the angel doesn't wait for an answer from Joseph. He assumes Joseph will do what he is asked. And he does. Without a word. Can God say that about us?
Finally, Joseph was of one heart and mind with Mary. They were husband and wife. They prayed together. They discussed matters and he listened to her. She who was the vessel of the Holy Spirit was his confidante as he made the hundred and one decisions a man makes each day about his family, his work, and his life. He, whom God trusted, trusted Mary.
Much more could be written and much more must be contemplated about this man. But as God trusts us with our tasks — large or small though they may be — let us go to Joseph. We can’t go wrong listening to and obeying the man Jesus and Mary listened to and obeyed.
© Copyright 2005 Catholic Exchange
Robert Greving is a husband and teacher from Germantown, Maryland.
