Ordinary 3 – Year of St. Joseph II

The Third Sunday of Ordinary Time – The Year of Saint Joseph II

Jonah 3:1-5, 10; Psalm 25; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31; Mark 1:14-20

This is the second in a series of homilies on Saint Joseph marking the Year of Saint Joseph declared by Pope Francis 8 December 2021

Do you dream? We all do.

Do you remember your dreams? Do we reflect on the images within our dreams?

Images that can be surreal, vivid, conflicting and frightening, often making no sense.

Do you believe dreams have value such that you have made decisions or taken an action based on a dream? Have you acquired some bit of self-knowledge through a dream? Or in Scrooge fashion, do you consider dreams, “an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a fragment of an underdone potato?”

The American Jungian analyst and Episcopal priest, John A. Sanford, believed that dreams are the forgotten language of God. Have you ever thought of dreams as a way in which God speaks to you? As we reflect on Joseph of Nazareth it is difficult not to bring to mind his namesake, the 11th son of the patriarch Jacob. Remember he was sold into slavery by his brothers. Both Josephs received dreams and trusted their dreams as messages from God.

Now whether “an undigested bit of beef” or not, the sacred scriptures do take dreams seriously. Do you recall Jacob’s dream of a ladder stretching from earth to heaven with divine beings moving up and down on it? Pharaoh’s disturbing dreams of fat and gaunt cows foretelling upcoming good harvests followed by a period of famine. Or the dream of the magi warning them of Herod’s treachery.

Joseph of Nazareth also has dreams none of which are very consoling.

In the midst of his feelings of betrayal and thoughts of divorce, Joseph is told in a dream not to be afraid of taking Miriam into his home as his wife. What was it like to have such a confused mixture of feelings surging within you; betrayal, salvation, divorce, God’s promises, love, and heartache? This had to be the emotional turmoil Joseph experienced. What caused Joseph to trust the dream and act on it?

Do you remember your latest dreams? How did you feel?

When the magi do not return to Herod, the king realizes he has been deceived. Like all tyrants and dictators Herod lashes out against the innocent with murderous plans. Joseph is warned in a dream to flee to Egypt with the child and mother.

Was it any different for Joseph as it is today for refugees and asylum seekers fleeing dictators and tyrants? Have any of us ever had to flee danger on a moment’s notice? A battered spouse fleeing their home before an abusive wife or husband returns. Did you or someone you know flee the raising of the Berlin Wall or Nazism and the camps in World War II?

Are many people today opposed to welcoming and caring for asylum seekers and refugees because we do not know their fearful experience?

We may need to reflect that by God sending Joseph, Miriam and Jesus to seek security in Egypt, God forced them to be refugees. God in Jesus knows the experiences of many families and children today that their sisters and brothers, I refer to you and me, do not know.

What were Joseph’s dreams in Egypt?

A dream reassures Joseph he can return to Israel from Egypt. Herod is dead. A fourth dream warns Joseph to avoid Herod’s son, Archelaus who was as tyrannical as his father. He and the family are to travel north into Galilee to the town of Nazareth.

What went through Joseph’s mind when he later found out about the massacre of the Bethlehem boys? Did he experience what we call survivor’s guilt? Did he question why God did not offer dreams of warning to all those other parents?

How do we reflect on our own good fortunes in the light of other people’s misfortunes?

All of the situations in which God communicates with Joseph through dreams are serious, at times life threatening and complex. Two aspects of these dreams are important for our spiritual relationship with God.

In each of Joseph’s dreams God conveys hope for an unknown future. A path to safety. But not security as we understand it. You need to simply reflect on the cross. This was the unknown and secure path for the Son. And God offers new beginnings. But new beginnings can be fearful at first glance. New beginnings call for our trust. Consider the stories of Mary at the Annunciation, Paul on the way to Damascus, Sarah and Abraham called to move, have a child in old age, and then sacrifice that child.

What maybe most telling is not the dreams themselves but Joseph’s response to them. Each time Joseph wakes, he promptly obeys. When Joseph woke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him. Joseph’s responses reveal a deep trust that the God of Israel is moving in and out of his life. His response is immediate.

Trust in any relationship though just doesn’t appear on a moment’s notice. Trust is something that must be nurtured over time through prayer and personal experience with this God of ours. Do you and I trust God?

What is our response to God when God speaks to us, directs us, points out new pathways to us?

For Joseph it was through the language of dreams, how do you experience God speaking with you? How does God offer you hope, lead you to secure places and present to you new beginnings?

Do I dare say, “Pleasant dreams?”