Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year A—2001 Homily

Now it is beginning to really feel like Advent. We hear in our readings a prophecy concerning the birth of Christ and some of the preliminaries leading up to that great event.

There is no doubt about it. But for Joseph's silence, Mary would have been stoned to death.

Joseph must have been in very bad shape. He was depressed and upset, at the same time he was in a panic and yet very sad. The wedding had been on the cards for quite a while, preparations were well in hand. The contract had been signed, they would have started living together exactly a year after the signing as was the proper Jewish custom.

Now suddenly, before the year was over, Mary had returned from her long visit to Elizabeth. She was obviously pregnant and yet Joseph had never been with her.

He could have gone to the priests; he could have accused her of unfaithfulness, which would have meant that Mary would have been stoned to death. But he still loved her and that was why he decided to divorce her informally, quietly.

Then the totally unexpected happened. In a dream an angel appeared and told him that Mary's child was to be the one who would save the whole of Israel. He is to be called Jesus: He who saves. He is Emmanuel; God with us.

It was those names which made Joseph change his mind. Those names made him see the light; those names made him overcome his difficulties. He was a good Jew, he knew his bible, he knew that God had foretold that a child would be born from a virgin whose name would be Emmanuel, God with us.

Knowing these things Joseph did as he was told. Those names had too much power to be taken lightly. Words like these have power. I think this story illustrates the point.

Some kids were playing football, they were in a rutted road on a building site. The ball went over a big pile of rubble and a little lad went after the ball. He went out of sight behind the gravel and after a second or two a terrible scream was heard.

When the other kids climbed up the bank they saw that their friend had fallen into a deep pit. The sand and gravel was very loose and every time they tried to get near the opening of the pit a lot of sand fell into it, falling on the screaming child below. He cried out; Help, Help, Mum, Dad, Help, Help!

Some adults heard the cries and came to help but the didn't know what to do either, each time they got near sand and gravel fell on the child and he screamed out desperately. So one of them called the fire brigade. The firemen got a long ladder and laid it on the ground right up to the edge of the pit, they threw a rope with a harness down in the pit and told the boy to put it over his shoulders.

But the child was in a panic and did not listen, he just screamed and screamed. Nobody dared go down after him the opening was too narrow and the walls of the pit might collapse on top of the child.

Then another man came running up. He crept to the end of the ladder, slowly and carefully. He bent over the opening of the pit: 'Joseph, be quiet. It's me, your father. I am her now so you are safe. Do what I tell you and you will get out.'

When the child heard his father's voice he calmed down; the panic subsided. Here was someone he trusted, and when his father told him to put the harness over his shoulders, he did so.

That young boy saved himself by listening to his father. In the same way Joseph, the husband of Mary, was saved through listening to God's word and following it out as the Angel told him to do.

We might be tempted to think that it is not quite the same for us; the salvation of the whole human race doesn’t depend on my actions over the next few days—what I do or don’t do isn’t of much significance. But, of course, we would be wrong.

God works in the here and now—his words of salvation as expressed in the scriptures are addressed to us, to each one of us. He is deeply concerned about us all and does not want even a single one of us to be lost. He is constantly trying to show us his love—but often it takes years of hindsight for us to see even a few of his purposes.

Let us take away with us today the lesson of Joseph—to be open enough to God that we are able to realise what it is he wants from us and then to carry it out our task without complaint.

This might seem a very simple lesson, and many would find it irksome and perhaps not a little boring but this is the way to salvation—this is the way to true greatness.