The Year of St Joseph, proclaimed by Pope Francis, ended recently on the 8th December, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. This gives us the opportunity to reflect on St Joseph in the Nativity scene above.
Situated on the very edge of the icon, St. Joseph cuts a morose and isolated figure. The old man before him represents satan, tempting Joseph with doubts (as recorded in the Protoevangelium).
This year had been a real struggle for Joseph and Mary. They had had an ‘unplanned pregnancy’ to deal with; now a difficult winter journey to Bethlehem, Mary close to her time – Joseph watching her anxiously, praying that the baby would wait until they could get back home to Nazareth. But their plans weren’t working out, the baby chose to come now, and Joseph couldn’t find a room. So there they are in a cold stable with the animals. Shortly afterwards they would become something we see almost every night on our TVs, refugees fleeing their country from violence, as Herod will send the troops in. Was it really meant to be like this? Is this how God meant His Son to come into the world?
There is a lot going on in St. Joseph that we can identify with, things not working out as we would like, the struggles & disappointments of life. There are many ways we can experience life as not being what we had planned or hoped for. We want to be able to fix things, but sometimes we feel like failures, exhausted or even disillusioned. That is, perhaps, the St. Joseph we see in the scene above.
Looking into the crib scene we can see ourselves in Mary and Joseph, we can see those we know and love, we can see our wider human family – so many just trying to manage the problems, coping with the stress, trying to hold it together.
But right there, as we gaze at the crib, in that cold stable, there is a light which the darkness cannot overcome, Emmanuel, God-with-us. And He is with us in our lives, whatever the circumstances; He has a plan for us. And there is a joy in that, a freedom. God has a plan, so we can let go, surrender our problems, admit our limitations. We are not the saviours of our situation, the baby in that manger is our Saviour. Along with the Wise Men, we can surrender not only our gifts, but our plans, our failures, and our burdens to the Christ Child as we kneel before Him.
Have a Joyful Christmas.
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