I find it rather interesting that St. Joseph doesn’t have any lines in the Gospel. Joseph doesn’t actually speak at all in either Matthew or Luke’s account of Christ’s birth and youth. Why might that be? It’s not that he was mute, of course. Rather, it’s because the work God has called him to do required action more than it required a certain articulation of ideas. Joseph was called not so much to speak but to protect, to defend, to exhibit faithfulness with his presence. Joseph was called to stand by Mary’s side, not to divorce her. Joseph was called to carry Christ and his mother into Egypt instead of standing before Herod and rebuking him for his murderous intent.
Very often, faithfulness is making a good confession, teaching your children to fear, love, and trust in God above all things, as St. Joseph certainly did. Sometimes faithfulness is speaking words of comfort to those in sorrow. But sometimes, when God calls us to faithfulness, he’s not calling us to speak but to act, and to do so in a way that doesn’t draw attention to ourselves. Feed your hungry neighbors without ensuring that those neighbors even know it was you. Cover the sins of your enemies and your loved ones instead of speaking about them to anyone. Silently pray for those whose problems you don’t know how to solve instead of spewing a bunch of meaningless words that can’t give them any real comfort.
As we see in Joseph, there’s a time for speaking and a time for silence. This is a lesson our Lord learned from his guardian, when the same Savior who spoke volumes throughout his earthly ministry was led silently to the cross like a lamb to the slaughter where he won our salvation. Speak when God calls you to. Don’t feel compelled to when he doesn’t. In all things, may our words and our deeds be equally faithful to the Lord who has clothed us in his faithfulness.
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