Fr Marco Lazzaron
his is the last reflection before Christmas and we are already in the second part of Advent when the Readings at Mass, start to swift the focus to the great event of the birth of Jesus. From this Sunday’s Gospel, we want to draw out two words: to welcome and to guard.
Regarding the first word, there is an initial aspect to highlight in Joseph, and it is certainly his capacity for welcome. Welcoming is the fundamental activity we must practice with God: welcoming Him, as Joseph did; welcoming His unconditional love, His grace, His forgiveness. As we have celebrated recently the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, similarly, we are also asked to welcome the Virgin Mary in our hearts.
In a similar way, God asks us to welcome our neighbour just as He welcomes us. Joseph first of all welcomes God’s plan, which is not the plan he had imagined! He is called to believe and to welcome Mary; he is called to welcome and act as father to God! Indeed, in life, everyone needs someone who welcomes them, who takes them in. Joseph teaches us that “fathers are not born, they are made. And one does not become a father simply by bringing a child into the world, but by taking responsible care of them. Every time someone takes responsibility for another person’s life, in a certain sense they exercise fatherhood toward them” (Pope Francis, Patris Corde, 7). That is why, in many places (e.g., religious priests, and this country also diocesan ones), priests are often called “Father” because, they exercise a fatherhood to the people entrusted to them.
The second aspect of today’s Gospel that we want to grasp is the ability to guard the important things in life. “To guard, in Hebrew, is translated as shamar, which means to watch over, to keep vigil, to observe, to keep guard, to safeguard; it is the verb of someone who carefully scans the horizon to spot danger” (Don Fabio Rosini). The one who knows how to guard is the one who perceives both the danger and the value of the person they must protect. Often, we do everything we can, to guard houses, money, and various possessions, and then forget to guard the people God entrusts to us. Today’s Gospel tells us that at his awakening, Joseph took his wife with him, fully aware of all the difficulties they would face because of this extraordinary event. Joseph knows he will have to face, together with Mary, the gossip and insinuations of people. But for him, guarding what God entrusted to him is far more important!
Joseph has that “creative courage which emerges especially when difficulties are encountered. In fact, when facing a difficulty, one can either stop and give up, or find a way to move forward” (Pope Francis). Let us ask ourselves, then, whether we know how to guard carefully the people God has entrusted to us, or whether we are among those who are often absent and delegate to others the very task God gave us!
“Joseph represents men and women who, taking on the lives of others, live love without counting the cost in fatigue and fear; all those who, without proclamations and without reward, in silence, do what must be done; all those whose highest task in the world is to guard lives with their own life” (Don Ermes Ronchi).