Ordinary 5 – Year of St. Joseph IV

The Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time – The Year of Saint Joseph IV

Job 7:1-4, 6-7; Psalm 147; 1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23; Mark 1:29-39

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.

No one ever warns you. It happens suddenly on an ordinary day. You are unawares and…roles reverse. Mom and dad are not taking care of you; you are taking care of and watching out for dad and mom.

It happened first with dad, we were walking from the dentist to the bank. Suddenly I realized I had to take smaller steps. Parkinson’s Disease and age had taken away any strong and steady gait. In that instant I thought, dad had to do the same for me when I was a toddler. Smaller steps. Reversed roles. And then as we reached the corner he just started barreling into the cross walk. I grabbed his arm. “Dad you need to look both ways!” Oops. I’d hope he didn’t realize what just happened. How often had he said those same words of warning to me as a child? Roles reversed.

It only happened with mom in that last Advent of her life. The hospice nurse had just finished settling mom in and checking her out and then…he left. And there I was alone. “O! My! God! I’ve never taken care of anyone in my life!”  Reversed roles.

What was it like when that reversal happened for Jesus and Joseph?

Joseph who cradled the infant to sleep at the beginning of Jesus’ days is now cradled by the grown son into the sleep of death at the end of his days. No wonder Joseph is the patron of the dying and a happy death. Joseph entered into eternity in the arms of the One who is Eternal Life and would destroy death by his own death on the cross.

Regrettably most people today die in hospitals and nursing care facilities rather than surrounded by family in their own home. How much more painful that has become with the pandemic. Compassionate physicians, nurses and staff, dressed as if for a moon landing, have become surrogates for family holding the hands of so many of the dying. They are the presence of Joseph.

Being present to another human being is the greatest gift we can give each other. It is the foremost example that Joseph of Nazareth offers us as a man, a husband, a father…as a human being. “The Polish writer Jan Dobraczyński, in his book, The Shadow of the Father, tells the story of Saint Joseph’s life in the form of a novel. He uses the evocative image of a shadow to define Joseph. In his relationship to Jesus, Joseph was the earthly shadow of the heavenly Father. "Joseph watched over Jesus and protected him, never leaving him to go his own way.” [Patris Corde #7. When we are present to each other we too are the shadow of the Eternal Father.

It is experienced in you as parents and grandparents giving your time and attention to play with your children, to assist with homework, or being present at a concert or sports event. You become the shadow of the Eternal Father. Might family time with each other be an unexpected gift of the pandemic?

As a child I remember playing in the cellar near where dad was working or sitting with him in the boat quietly fishing on Lake Placid.

Presence, like shadows, possess great influence, strength and guidance.

Thus the absence was sadly noted while singing a cabaret years after I was ordained when I realized it was the first time my parents were not in the audience.

Presence, like shadows, possess great influence, strength and guidance.

As chaplain at Albany Medical Center much of my time was spent quietly sitting with people outside the ER, in waiting rooms or by bedsides.

Presence, like shadows, possess great influence, strength and guidance.

How much more true is that in the hours of sickness and dying?  

We are not familiar with paintings of the death of Joseph in the arms of the Son where role reversal and presence mingle. I wonder why not?

Not one word of Joseph is recorded. It may be the best of lessons for a culture like ours drowning in ceaseless words from ubiquitous screens. We are invited to bear witness to Joseph’s silence and presence which speak so eloquently. He challenges our Twitter, Facebook, 24/7 “breaking news” media world. Joseph put people at the heart of his life. A wife and a child that was not his. He is quietly present in the background caring for and protecting them. How do you and I, in all those disguised forms, protect Jesus and Mary today?

Whether you are called Joseph, Giuseppe, José, Josephine, Josephus, Yousef, Jody, Seosamh, Joey…your name means “God will increase.” May God increase in each of us the gift of a quiet presence within us and about us.

May Joseph of Nazareth, of the House of David, pray with and for us. May the shadow of the Eternal Father, protect us in all the reversals of our life.