Spending Advent with St. Joseph

As a woman and mother, I sometimes feel like I should feel close to Mary during Advent. And I do. But I often find myself looking more to St. Joseph.

In so many ways, his story is similar to our stories.

He’s thrust into a situation he couldn’t have anticipated. He considers backing out and walking away, divorcing Mary quietly. We don’t know whether that was because he didn’t understand what God was doing or because he did understand and didn’t feel worthy or capable.

Either way, God sends an angel in a dream to explain more fully and to tell him not to be afraid. Joseph must have had to trust God and grow in faith to set aside the life he imagined for himself and accept this new invitation.

And what an invitation it is!

Joseph finds himself serving as the earthly father to God’s Son, the Savior of the World. He is husband to the holiest woman in history. He has incredible responsibility—and also infinite divine support. But I wonder whether he felt fear and anxiety as he considered what he was being asked to do.

We often reflect on the “yes” that Mary gave to Gabriel when he came to her at the Annunciation. But Joseph’s “yes” is such a powerful one, too. He says yes to walking with Mary on a journey he could never have imagined. He says yes to serving God in a specific way, fulfilling a vocation as Jesus’ protector and guide.

Joseph’s “yes” is tremendous. But because of his humanity and the way he arrives in the story, his yes also feels like the one we are sometimes asked to make—one that feels like a sudden and unexpected U-turn in our ordinary lives.

Joseph could have turned and walked away. Instead, by accepting God’s invitation, the course of his life changes. He takes on so, so much. But he is also given an incomparable gift—the opportunity to know and love Jesus, to be with Jesus, to grow in trust of God, and to walk with Him every day.

“He kept the commandments of God without wavering, even though the meaning of those commandments was sometimes obscure or their relation to the rest of the divine plan hidden from him,” said St. Josemaría Escrivá. “Joseph’s faith does not falter, he obeys quickly and to the letter.”

How often in life do we find ourselves at an unexpected twist in the road, facing a challenge that feels far bigger than anything we can handle? What a beautiful reminder from St. Joseph that whatever challenges and opportunities come during this Advent season—whether we say yes to them or whether they just land in our laps without a choice—God will be there, walking with us, guiding us, and inviting us to grow closer to him along the way.

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