Mary, Joseph, and God's Bigger Picture

We have gathered here today to praise God for the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and to ask for her intercession on this Solemnity of her Immaculate Conception. But I know our Blessed Mother won’t mind if I also talk today about her Spouse, St. Joseph. You may know that all this year we have been in the Year of St. Joseph – a time that Pope Francis has invited the whole Church to reflect upon and ask for the assistance of the Head of the Holy Family. That year concludes today, and since I don’t believe I have preached yet specifically about St. Joseph during this year, I thought “Better late than never”.

In today’s Gospel, Mary says yes to the message of the angel about what God wills for her life: to give birth to our Savior, Jesus Christ. In doing so, her life changed in a major way; so too, did that of St. Joseph. Mary didn’t ask Joseph’s permission to become the Mother of God; she accepted her life’s vocation on the spot, but her choice also affected that of St. Joseph. We know from the Gospel that Joseph was hesitant about Mary and Child into his home. Understandably so! Who was he to have the Mother of God, and her Son, the Incarnate Word, in his home? But God knew what he did not: that he was the right man for the job. And so, Joseph’s life too was radically changed from what he might have expected. Whatever Mary and Joseph might have intended for their own married life, they set those plans aside in order to accept the will of God.

Saint Joseph with the Child Jesus (c. 1840) by Vincent López Portaña

Of course, neither of them did these things by themselves, by their own powers. They did them only by God’s grace. Mary received that grace in a unique way, a belief we celebrate today: that at the moment of her conception God applied to her the redemptive merits of her Son’s passion, death, and resurrection. Joseph received that grace sometime after his own conception – when exactly, we don’t know – but he too came to understand and to accept what God was asking him to do, even if he didn’t fully understand how or why. God was at work in a far deeper way than Joseph realized.

Pope Francis puts it well, in his apostolic letter Patris Corde (“With a Father’s Heart”), for this Year of Joseph: “Even through Joseph’s fears, God’s will, his history and his plan were at work. Joseph, then, teaches us that faith in God includes believing that he can work even through our fears, our frailties and our weaknesses. He also teaches us that amid the tempests of life, we must never be afraid to let the Lord steer our course. At times, we want to be in complete control, yet God always sees the bigger picture.”

Friends, there’s a great truth at the center of our liturgy today: aligning our will with God’s will is always the best way. Think today about where God might be asking you to align your will to his. What seems scary or difficult, but nonetheless the right thing to do? What feels overwhelming, but something you know you need to accept? Ask for the grace of Christ – the same grace that sanctified Mary, the same grace that redeemed Joseph. And ask for their help, too: they can be wonderful intercessors in helping us to generously accept the Lord’s will – to say “Yes,” to his plan, as they did. For Mary, for Joseph, and for us, too – God always sees the bigger picture.