There are many important people that we’ve heard about in the last couple of weeks, and that we are going to hear about in the next couple of weeks. We’ve heard about John the Baptist. We’ve heard about Mary. We’re going to hear about the shepherds and the Three Kings. All of these individuals are the main characters in the greatest story ever told. We’ve seen pictures of them on Christmas cards that have come in the mail. We’ve seen statues of them in our nativity sets. We’ve heard songs about them played now weeks before next Saturday’s Feast Day. And yet, the one person in this whole drama that we have heard and seen very little of, is St. Joseph . St. Matthew and the other Gospel writers go out of their way to make it clear that St. Joseph was not the father of Jesus. He gets downplayed so much that it’s almost like you could tell the story, and not even mention poor St. Joseph . St. Joseph becomes like George Harrison was to the Beatles. He’s always there. He’s doing his job. He’s just not very noticeable. The reality is that St. Joseph gets more negative mention than he does any other kind. He’s the husband of Mary who takes his pregnant wife on a journey, and then he can’t find a place for them to stay. The implication is, of course, that in the Holy Family, with two of the three of them being perfect and without sin, if something went wrong, you knew who’s fault it was. Joseph must have had some difficult days. But today, now that we are less than a week before Christmas, we get the chance to hear a little bit about this man who would be Jesus’ foster father. And what we learn is, that St. Joseph has a lot to teach us about our Faith, if only we would take notice.

The first thing we notice is that St. Joseph was most like us. He wasn’t immaculately conceived and he wasn’t born of a virgin birth. St. Joseph was just a regular guy that God chose to be the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus. So quite obviously, he wasn’t just an ordinary guy. St. Joseph had a great deal of Faith. When many others didn’t or couldn’t believe in what God was doing. St. Joseph did believe. We have this fantastic story today, where St. Joseph has what is probably the greatest crisis of his entire life: He finds out that the girl that he is engaged to, is going to have somebody else’s baby, And sure, Joseph is upset. The Gospel says that as angry, and hurt, and upset as he was, he still protects Mary. After an angel reveals to him the Truth, St. Joseph in great Faith marries Mary. He trusts what the angel told him. He doesn’t necessarily understand. He doesn’t necessarily like it. It’s not what he had planned for his life. And yet, in Faith, he accepts it as God’s will and direction for him in his life. What a powerful example this is for all of us!

St. Joseph reminds all of us as we begin our fourth week of our Advent season, that this really is all about Faith. We can’t just have Faith when it’s easy. We can’t just have Faith when things go our way. We can’t just have Faith when we want to. We are to be people of Faith all the time. We need to trust. We need to listen. We need to give God every chance that we can. Life is a Faith activity. This is so important for us to know, especially this week. Every year, these days before Christmas get a little crazy. There are so many things to take care. Travel arraignments have to be made. The house needs to be cleaned. Notes and cards have to be written. There’s so much. We would do so much better this week to remember what’s really most important. Our Faith should be a source of strength for us, just as it was for St. Joseph at that first Christmas.

St. Joseph doesn’t get his picture on too many Christmas cards. There aren’t a lot of Christmas tree ornaments with his image. I can’t think of a Christmas carol devoted to the man chosen to be Jesus’ earthly father. And yet we know, that without St. Joseph ’s cooperation, the Christmas story would have been very different. Faith doesn’t have to be grandiose and attention-getting to be Faith. But for great things to happen, Faith has to be there one way or another.

Let us be like St. Joseph . You know, Joseph got turned away from a lot of inns before they ended up in that stable. Let us remember that this week when things don’t go like we planned.

May God bless us this week, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit… AMEN !!!

St. Maria Goretti… Pray for us !!!