Lessons from St. Joseph: Caeser demanded a census. Joseph takes Mary (pregnant with Jesus) to Bethlehem to be counted, but finds no room in which to stay. The earthly father whom Jesus Himself had chosen for this very moment, allowed the Queen of Heaven and Redeemer of the world to be sheltered in a cold, stale, smelly cave. Joseph didn’t just accept Providence. He embraced its mystery.
“Jesus never taught us how to deal with unanswered prayers because that was never meant to be our normal – it was never his experience, and it is not meant to be our experience, either.” (Jonna Schuster)
As we embark on Lent, we allow Jesus to prepare us for His Passion as He prepared the apostles for it. At the end of this season, we will be sorrowfully accompanying Him in his passion and death, leaving us empty so as to most fully experience the joy of His resurrection.
In the first book of Samuel, scripture tells us David spared Saul’s life. Choosing to do so was counter to all conventional human wisdom, counter to what might seem ‘right action’. Capacity to act with Divine wisdom can only come from God’s purifying love.
Restoration of Love within us, which is God Himself, must then involve restoration of love within our human relationships too.