Active Contemplation

Today, we remember St Martha, the sister of Lazarus and Mary of Bethany. Martha is one of those saints who is often remembered for falling short of the mark; St Thomas the apostle is another. He is often remembered for being the doubter of the resurrection, and she is often remembered as not choosing “the better part” (Luke 10:42). 

Many have taken this passage to mean that those who live a quiet contemplative life as a religious sister or brother are in some way better than those who don’t. Yet, this is not what Jesus implies. Rather, we may very well understand Jesus to mean that we can go about frantic in life wondering how we will serve the Lord (and be stressed by how we look before Him) or we can chose “the better part” and simply listen to him tell us what he desires to say. 

Joe, I believe, acted as Martha should have acted. Yes, serve the Lord. Provide food and shelter for Him. Yet, do so quietly—not seeking to have others conform to our own wishes. I have often wondered, when Joe and Jesus worked together, did one or the other speak, or did they simply work in silence—listening to that “light  silent sound” (1 Kings 19:12) within them? I have to believe that there was a mixture of speaking and silence, but I think Joe would have found great consolation in listening to Jesus while they worked. In other words, Joe is a model active contemplative.

Joe and Mary of Magdala

Today, the Church celebrates the memory of St Mary Magdalene, the woman who first saw Jesus risen from the dead (Mark 16:9). Tradition tells us that Mary of Magdala went to France to bring the Gospel to the people there. 

Centuries later, not far from where she landed, Joe appeared to a shepherd. Today, there remains the Benedictine Monastery of Saint-Joseph du Bessillon at the site. Check out the story, and if you find yourself in Southern France, be sure to stop and pray.

Joe and the Holy Spirit: Lord and Giver of Life

Jesus called Himself “the Way, the Truth, and the Life...” (John 14:6), and in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, the Church acclaims, “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life...” In this we find yet another parallel between Joe and the Holy Spirit—both are lords and givers of life (albeit by nature in the Holy Spirit and by Grace in Joe).

Tradition has regularly applied the words spoken of the Old Testament Joseph, “he made lord over his household, ruler over all his possessions.” (Psalm 105:21), to Joe. Joe was called upon by God the Father to be in a certain way, the “lord of Life”.

So what about “giver of Life”? Consider this, had Joe not believed Mary’s marital fidelity to him, he could very well of had her stoned to death, which also would have meant the death of her Son as well. He chose, rather, to give physical life to Life. Further, when Joe enrolled Jesus in the Abrahamic Covenant through circumcision, he chose to give spiritual life to Life (cf. Deut. 30:15-20). And further still, by giving life to Life, Who gives us His own Life, Joe has given Life to us. 

So yes, Joe, like the Holy Spirit is the lord and giver of Life.

Silence: from Isolation to Encounter

A couple weeks back, I came across an "e-retreat" offered by Archbishop Christopher Prowse entitled Silence: from Isolation to Encounter. When I started, my life seemed really "loud" and I felt the need to return once again to being silent with Joe. I really wasn't at all surprised to find that a stained-glass image of Joe was present there in the background of the first episode. He once again made a more quiet "appearance" in the final episode on Mary. 

As I went through the retreat (usually watching an episode about every other day), it began to become evident to me, that Joe is a model of moving from isolation to encounter in silence. I can only imagine how alone and isolated he must have felt when he was deciding to divorce Mary (Mt. 1:19), or how abandoned he must have felt when he had to flee his home country to a foreign land (Mt. 2:13), or how empty he must have felt when Jesus was nowhere to be found for three days (Lk. 2:48). In each of these occasions, Joe remains silent, and in this silence, he encounters God's Presence.

If you have time (and honestly, who actually doesn't have the time to devote 20 minutes every other evening), I encourage you to enter into this time of retreat. Whether you enter into one episode a day, or one every other day (or perhaps every two days), I don't think it will be a waste of time. Do not be afraid to enter the silence. God is waiting... go and meet him!

Joe and the Holy Spirit: A Spirit of Adoption

St Paul says to us in his letter to the Romans: 

For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, "Abba, Father!" [to God]. (Romans 8:15)

It was through Joe that Jesus was legally adopted into the royal household of David (True Husband and Father). We could very well re-word St. Paul's words regarding Jesus and Joe:

For Jesus did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but He received a spirit of adoption, through which He cries, "abba, father!" [to David].

Some time ago, I shared a portion of St Augustine's reflection on the lineage of Jesus, in which he reflected on the linage of Mary as being a daughter of Aaron (One Mother, Two Roots). Hence, Mary with Joe form Jesus as both a king and a priest of the Old Covenant (albeit the fulfillment of the Old Covenant kings and priests). If we are made members of Christ (CCC, 1213), then we too are brought into the fulfillment of the Old Testament kings and priests. I wonder, therefore, if this gives any support to what St. Peter says to us:

But you are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own..." (1 Peter 2:9)

Providentially, I am writing this post on the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, and it just really occurred to me that I have referred to both of them. Perhaps, yet another movement of the Holy Spirit and Joe together!