Dear friends, I want to look at Christmas through the eyes of Joseph of Nazareth. At Christmas, all eyes are fixed on the Child and his Mother, so
Saint Joseph risks becoming a secondary character, barely more than an extra. Yet Pope Francis's apostolic letter
Patris Corde helps us see Joseph of Nazareth's true prominence.
"Everyone can find in Saint Joseph," the Pope writes, "the man who goes unnoticed, the man of daily, discreet, and hidden presence—an intercessor, a support, and a guide in times of difficulty. Saint Joseph reminds us that
all those who remain apparently hidden or in the second line hold a unique place in the history of salvation."
It is beautiful to consider that in the story of Jesus's birth—accomplished by the Holy Spirit—God asks for the collaboration of Mary of Nazareth, and also for figures like Joseph, working in the background. Despite the turmoil in his heart, Joseph remained always ready to do God's will.
Through the dreams recorded in Matthew's Gospel,
Joseph allowed himself to be schooled by God in a kind of leadership without a stage. He walked the streets, tended his home, labored in his workshop. He inhabited relationships and stories with a welcoming fatherhood that became attentiveness, care, and responsibility.
Christmas, then, becomes a moment when we contemplate our God made human for love's sake—and remember that in Jesus, the Father makes us his children and friends. We are men and women who, like Saint Joseph, work in the second line, seeking no spotlight, yet coloring our relationships, our places, our choices, our work, and our dreams each day with
a devoted and responsible fatherhood.
A kind of leadership without a stage that walked the streets, tended the home, labored in the workshop
That inhabited bonds and relationships
A kind of leadership without a stage that walked the streets, tended the home, labored in the workshop That inhabited bonds and relationships
How many Josephs—men and women in the second line—populate our communities of Faith and Light and, embracing the promptings of the Holy Spirit in their hearts, become bearers of good news: God is with us! Like Saint Joseph, they continue to care for the Child and his Mother. And Pope Francis reflects: "This Child is the one who will say, 'Whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me' (Matthew 25:40). So every person in need, every poor person, every sufferer, every dying person, every stranger, every prisoner, every sick person is the Child whom Joseph continues to care for."
Dear friends, as we wish each other a Merry Christmas, let us wish ourselves never to abandon that quiet leadership that makes each of us an ambassador of life and hope—someone ready to answer the silent calls that God awakens in our hearts, and like Saint Joseph, to give ourselves so that Christ may continue to be born in the city of humanity. May the soundtrack of hope still ring out: "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests" (Luke 2:14). Merry Christmas.
