December 20, 2025

4^th Sunday of Advent

Joseph’s Choice: Trust over Dismay

Msgr Thomas Gervasio

 
Our Lord’s Annunciation to Mary is an event well known to us. St. Luke recounts this event from the perspective of Mary. He tells us of Mary’s “YES” to God’s will, “May it be done to me according to your word.” Today, St. Matthew presents the same event but from the perspective of St. Joseph, whose Annunciation comes to him in a dream. He too says, “Yes, Lord,” but his response is not in words but in actions. 
 
His vocation was not without anxiety. We can only imagine the intense pressure he was under. He had to come to terms with the fact that Mary was with child and not yet aware of the child’s origin, had to assume that Mary had broken their engagement. The Law would have her dismissed. He could bring Mary into court resulting in public exposure and punishment, or he could divorce her privately. Joseph, who deeply loved Mary, did not want to denounce her but to protect Mary’s honor. But before he could carry out his plan, he is visited by an angel in dream. 
 
We hear again God’s perennial greeting to those he entrusts with a special mission: “Be not afraid!” What Joseph is told is overwhelming and it demands courageous faith. Mary is to be his wife, the child is conceived of the Holy Spirit and he is to name him, Jesus. What seemed like a scandal on one level, is really the work of God on a deeper level. He allows himself to be guided not by human logic but by faith. In an amazing leap of faith, he does what the angel had commanded. Pope Benedict wrote: “Only a man who is inwardly watchful for the divine, only someone with a real sensitivity for God and his ways, can receive God’s message in this way.” 
 
Joseph is now drawn into the mystery of God’s Incarnation and this means that he would be responsible for the security and comfort of Mary and Jesus. We discover, as the Gospel unfolds, that it is a mission that would not be without sacrifice. Mary would be the vessel of divine maternity; Joseph, the agent of the Lord’s legal paternity. Jesus’ claim to be in the Royal Davidic line would come through Joseph. 
 
What made Joseph inwardly watchful and sensitive to the ways of God, to use Pope Benedict’s expression? It is summed up in a word—TRUST. 
 
On a human level, trust can be a struggle, especially if we have been hurt, lied to, or betrayed. But so can our trust in God, when the road ahead is not so clear to us, when so many things in life are uncertain. 
 
Jesuit Fr. John Kavanaugh once asked St. Teresa of Calcutta to pray for him. “What do you want me to pray for?” she replied. He said, “Clarity. Pray that I have clarity.” “No,” St. Teresa answered, “I will not do that. Clarity is the last thing you are clinging to and must let go of it.” Fr. Kavanaugh said, Well, you always seemed to have clarity,” Mother Teresa laughed and said: “I have never had clarity; what I have always had is trust. So, I will pray that you trust God.” 
 
Trust means having a lively and literal sense of God’s reality, of his power, and of his benevolence. This allows us to place ourselves and our circumstances in the hands of God. This is what St. Joseph did. He did not have clarity, but trust. Let’s pray for it today: 
 
Heavenly Father, when my future is unclear and seems a mystery, I become anxious and afraid. I want to trust You, but I struggle with the unknown. Your Word tells me: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight” Lord, like St. Joseph, help to do that. Quiet my worrisome mind and calm my restless spirit. Let me feel Your presence beside me, guiding me with every step. Help me to believe that You are leading me toward something good, something for my benefit, and for Your glory. Thank you for being the one constant in a changing world…you who can neither deceive nor be deceived…you who are ever worthy of my trust. Amen.