Today’s question is a very direct one: have you had any good dreams lately? After all, this is the season for dreams. Would this really be the holiday season if you didn’t hear Bing Crosby sing: I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas. Those of you with young children no doubt have been exposed to a Visit from St Nicholas where children dream of sugar plum fairies dancing in their heads? Some of a more artistic bent have had the pleasure of seeing and hearing the dreams of The Nutcracker Suite. And in one way or another, most of us have been exposed to A Christmas Carol and Ebenezer Scrooge’s dreams of Christmas past, present and future.
Yes, we know about dreams, those pleasant flights of fancy into unreal worlds of music and literature. But there are other kinds of dreams. Dreams spoken of by the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., when he said: “I have a dream …” His dream spoke of hopes, of ways to change the world. Yes, dreams can change the world.
In today’s Gospel for the Fourth and final Sunday of Advent, we heard about another dream. We heard about a man who, in fact, had several dreams which changed the world. Usually, during the season of Advent, we focus on Mary, but, perhaps, for a few moments we might reflect on Joseph, her husband. Joseph who was a dreamer, who can teach us about listening to God, and, perhaps, changing the world.
Jesus taught us everything we know about our heavenly Father, about Abba. Although he was divinely inspired to know such things, it’s not unreasonable to think Jesus must, also, have had some direct, first-hand experience of what an Abba, a dad, was like. It’s not unreasonable to believe Joseph, the foster- father of Jesus, had something to do with Jesus’ ideas about fatherhood, a subject we may not think about as much as we might in today’s world.1
Our Gospel reading for this Sunday is taken from Matthew. The Nativity story in Matthew’s Gospel is really quite different from the one we hear about in Luke’s account, where the focus is on Mary, and shepherds, and angels singing praises to God. In Matthew, the story is about Joseph and his dreams.
In today’s reading, we heard how Mary was “betrothed” to Joseph. Often, we fail to recognize that being “betrothed” or “engaged” is very different today from what it was in Biblical times. Back then, the marriage rite consisted of two parts, the engagement, when the couple promised themselves to one another, and the wedding night, when the wedding contract was signed, and the couple began living together as husband and wife. Back then, the promise, itself, was as important, and as binding, as the contract of the wedding night. Once the promise was made, the two were considered to be married.
So, here we have a situation where Joseph learned the woman he had married was pregnant. And he knew he was not the father. As a righteous man, one who understood the Laws of God as laid down by Moses, Joseph had the right to divorce his new wife. Back in those days, a Jewish husband could divorce his wife by giving her a statement of his intentions, either publicly in front of a rabbinical court or privately so the woman would not be subject to public shame. This is what Joseph planned to do, before he had the fateful dream in which God revealed to him that the child his wife carried had been conceived by the Holy Spirit and would be called “Emmanuel: God is with us.”
We often say how wonderful it is that Mary said “yes” to the angel Gabriel. And without downgrading her “yes,” I believe it’s also wonderful Joseph said “yes” to his angel. When Joseph said “yes,” when Joseph said he would become the foster-father for the Son of God, what kind of a model did he become for Jesus and for us? What can we imagine about this man called Joseph?
First of all, he was one who listened intently to what God had to say and then he acted upon what God told him. St Paul in today’s Second Reading speaks of “the obedience of faith.” Joseph exhibits this “obedient faith.” The word “obedient” comes from a Latin word which means “to hear keenly and to act upon what is heard.” Joseph was an obedient man. In his dream he heard the message, he believed it and, most importantly, he acted upon it.
This was not the only time Joseph heard the angel of God in his dreams. At least three more times, according to the Gospel of Matthew, Joseph heard an angelic voice in his dreams. Shortly after the birth of his foster-son, he heard the message that Herod wanted to harm the boy, and the family should flee. Without apparent hesitation, Joseph packed up his family and left for Egypt, where they stayed until God spoke to him in a third dream.
In this third dream, the angel told Joseph it was safe to return to Judea. But what if Joseph had said, “No, I’d rather stay in Egypt. I have a pretty good carpentry shop here, I’d rather stay.” But once again, Joseph listened to God and returned to Judea. He took a risk and was willing to change. Then, once back in Judea, in another dream, Joseph was warned he should not settle there but rather go on to Galilee, a foreign place where he was not known.2 Once more Joseph was willing to listen to God and start anew.
Yes, each time Joseph was obedient to the message of God. Each time he was willing to take a risk and move on. Perhaps, this is something Joseph taught Jesus, the ability to take a risk, to move on, to begin anew.
The remaining Gospel stories tell us little directly about this man called Joseph. But what do you imagine him to be like? How does Jesus describe Abba, his father, and other fathers? Recall for a moment the story of the prodigal son. A story of a father who forgives. A story of a father who is so much in love with his son that he looks for his return and goes running with abandonment to meet him on the road.
Think for a moment about Jesus’ question: “What father would give his son a snake when he asks for fish or a scorpion when he asks for an egg?” Jesus knew, first-hand, a good father is constantly interested in the well-fare of his son and would not try to deceive him or harm him in any way. This question about snakes and fish and scorpions and eggs is reported by Luke, who also tells us of another time when Joseph played an important role in the life of a young Jesus. It would seem Joseph was able, in modern terms, to “cut him some slack.” On the trip to Jerusalem when Jesus was a young teenager, Joseph allowed Jesus freedom to learn on his own, to make his own human mistakes, if you will. And yet, when he was found, Mary was able to say: “Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.”
We know Joseph was a carpenter. We surmise, in his early years, Jesus followed this trade as well. Is it difficult to see the two of them working together in that woodshop? A carpenter, back then, was a very respected craftsman and businessman. It was from Joseph that Jesus learned to work with his hands. It was from Joseph that he learned about “fair trade” practices and about helping others.
From his foster-father, Jesus learned the traditions of his people, their psalms and stories. From the friends of Joseph, Jesus learned about pottery, about sowing seeds, about tending sheep. It was from Joseph that Jesus learned about the love of a father for his child. The father who takes risks for the welfare of his family. The father who teaches him what it is to be fully alive. The father who teaches him to listen intently and act upon the words of Abba.
Two thousand years ago, a gentle carpenter had dreams. He listened to the voice of God and put aside what others might say about him. He followed the vision of his dreams and not the prompting of the society around him. He gave his love to a foster-son. What dreams do you dream this day? What dreams have words to which you listen with obedient faith? What dreams of yours can change the world? What love do you give to the foster-son of Joseph, the Son of God?
Fourth Sunday of Advent; December 24, 1989, December 20, 1998, and December 19, 2004 (revised)
Is 7:10-14; Rom 1:1-7; Mt 1:18-24
- A special paragraph was inserted in the revision for 1998. In preparation for the Third Millennium Pope John Paul II had designated the liturgical year of 1998-1999 as the year to celebrate “God, the Father.” Other years were devoted to “God, the Son” and “God, the Holy Spirit.” The 1998 homily included: “And so, as we begin this liturgical year of the Fatherhood of God, perhaps it’s not unreasonable for us, and especially for us men who are fathers, to look more closely at this man called Joseph.
- While Luke’s Gospel has Mary receiving her angel in Nazareth of Galilee, Matthew’s account has the couple residing in a house in Bethlehem, Joseph’s native town. It would appear Joseph planned to return to Bethlehem of Judea, but the angel caused him to journey on to Nazareth of Galilee, a foreign territory for the family.