Today's Readings
(Audio)
They took him up to Jerusalem
to present him to the Lord
Mary and Joseph were faithful to the law of the Lord to the best of their ability. They didn't have the resources to offer more so they offered "a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons", the sacrifice prescribed for the poor for Mary's purification. They didn't hold back their child from being presented to the Lord, consecrated in a special way to belong to God. This might have seemed like a risky move, as though it would have been safer to keep Jesus entirely under their control. After all, they might have reasoned, he was a precious and miraculous gift. Consecration to the Lord was, historically, no guarantee of a peaceful life. It would not be for Jesus either. The fidelity of Mary and Joseph to the law assures us that this presentation to the Lord was no idle gesture, but a sincere offering from their hearts. This was in spite of the fact that Joseph had promised to take Mary into his home and to watch over her and the child as caretaker and protector. Having a child consecrated to the Lord was not going to make this role easier, especially for someone who many think might have been advanced in age, and unlikely to be around for critical events in the life of the child.
“Behold, this child is destined
for the fall and rise of many in Israel,
and to be a sign that will be contradicted
—and you yourself a sword will pierce—
so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
Imagine Joseph, in particular an aged Joseph, hearing this prophecy. He had signed on to be the protector of Mary and Jesus only against his natural instinct. By default, Joseph preferred silence, and to avoid being the center of attention. But the angel assured him that, because he was descended from King David, he had an important part to play. And so he gave his own sort of fiat to participation in the plan of salvation. But then so much of what he was called to do came down to faith and not to a show of strength. He was an example of the meekness praised by Jesus, strength under control.
He took him into his arms and blessed God
We imagine Joseph, the head, looking to Mary for whether such a handing over of the child to Simeon was to be allowed. He demonstrated servant leadership, for only such leadership made sense in a family when the mother and child were without sin and only the father struggled with imperfection. But rather than action, Joseph chose faith. He chose both faith in God and in the way God chose to work through the mother and the child.
Hearing the prophecy of Simeon about the mother and the child, both of whom were in his care, there must have been some sense in which a sword pierced the heart of Joseph as well. His role as protector was not meant to protect them from everything. He did keep the family safe from Herod the Great by leading them into Egypt and then eventually back to Nazareth. But he was not meant to keep them from the cross. Only by faith could Joseph become such a father and protector as he was called to be. It was like the faith of Abraham, which was able to see beyond the call to offer his son Isaac and to believe in God's ability to somehow, in spite of apparent impossibility, deliver on his promises.
By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac,
and he who had received the promises was ready to offer
his only son,
of whom it was said,
“Through Isaac descendants shall bear your name.”
He reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead,
and he received Isaac back as a symbol.
Although Joseph seems to have left the scene, and was probably deceased by the time Jesus endured the cross, he was nevertheless present for the practice run when the child Jesus was lost for three days before being found again in the temple. Did he take offense when Jesus said that he must be in his Father's house? (see Luke 2:49). Most likely not. Joseph did not appear in anyway jealous of the Father's prerogative over the Son entrusted to him. Only in this way had he been able to embrace his own role in faith. Because of the faith that filled the Holy Family we can imagine that what Paul described in his letter to the Colossians was preeminently true of their household:
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,
as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another,
singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs
with gratitude in your hearts to God.
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