Homily on the 3rd Day of Misa de Gallo, 4th Sunday of Advent, 18 Dec 2022, Maryville Chapel
We are happy to gather together again on this third day of our Christmas Novena, the Fourth Sunday of Advent. It is really so good to see many of you attending the Misa de Gallo, something we missed for two years because of the Covid pandemic and the typhoon Odette that hit Cebu last year. Your firm and vibrant faith is so impressive and amazing. Today, God presents to us the person of St. Joseph as model for our Advent preparation. He was the one chosen by God to be the husband of Mary and the foster father and protector of Jesus, the divine Savior. The question is, nganong si San Jose? Unsa man ang naa kaniya nganong siya man ang napili sa Ginoo? (Why was it Joseph? What is it in him that he was chosen by God?)
Joseph was a very ordinary Jew working as a carpenter in Nazareth. But he was also known to be a righteous man, a devout & religious Jew. Above all, he lived a deeply spiritual life, that is, sensitive to the promptings of the Spirit more than to the needs and desires of his human body. This particular trait or virtue may be called ultra-sensitivity to the Spirit. It is the ability to perceive God’s will despite the disturbance or noise that maybe happening around. It is like the zoom microphone that can pick up sounds even from a certain distance no matter how soft the voice or the sound might be. That is how Joseph can be likened to. He was able to hear and understand God’s whisper when he was at a very important crossroad of his life. This precisely is what the gospel of today is showing to us who are now preparing for Christmas.
Allow me first to present to you the interesting background of this. Joseph was super in love with Mary, his girlfriend, that he did not hesitate to offer her a marriage proposal. As the gospel text clearly says “Mary was betrothed to Joseph.” This I guess is lesson number one for today: engagement. Engagement is a very important step prior to marriage. However, sad to say, engagement has become a rare practice nowadays. Daghan sa mga batan-on karong panahona pag na realize nila nga naa silay “mutual understanding”, mao na na! dili na mangulitawo si lalaki, ni proposal, ni engagement. Either kasal dayon or live-in na lang! (So many young people today, as soon as they fall in love, don’t care about courting anymore, much less for the act of proposing and the period of engagement that follows after. Either they rush to marriage or simply live-in together). Today Joseph is teaching us how to go through the long and difficult journey of a true lover’s life. Nanguyab siya sa usa ka babayi nga flawless ug gwapa kaayo inside and out (He courted a girl, flawless and beautiful inside and out), by the name of Mary, full of grace. Then he proposed marriage to her, and yet they kept their boundaries and remained pure until the day of their wedding. Yes, Joseph loved, honoured and respected Mary so selflessly that he patiently waited for the right time to touch her and live with her.
However, while waiting, something shockingly unexpected happened. Nahibaw-an niya nga si Maria na mabdos bisan wala pa niya nahilabtan (He came to know that Mary was already pregnant even if he had not yet slept with her). Could you imagine what Joseph must have felt upon knowing that his girlfriend was already “pregy” and he had nothing to do with it? Joseph must have felt so betrayed and probably furious. And what could have been his immediate reaction?
Sa sobrang kasuko gisyagitan ug gi insulto niya siguro si Maria. Posible sad nga gipa-salvage niya ang lalaki nga nanghilabot (Out of his raging fury he could have yelled and hurled insults against Mary. And he could have had her “other man” salvaged to death). But no! Surprisingly, Joseph did none of those things. Wala sad niya gi-post sa social media ang dakong sala ni Maria batok kaniya (Neither did he post anything on social media about Mary’s infidelity). He was not at all an impulsive person who would immediately react or over-react without first thinking twice and considering the larger picture seriously. He loved his girlfriend so much that he didn’t even want to put her to shame. So what did Joseph do as a good and faithful friend and lover? He chose to give his beloved some SPACE. He went as far as giving her the SEPARATION or distancing he thought she might need, but SILENTLY, without recklessly spreading “tsismis” and rumors around.
My dearly beloved friends, especially the young people who are here, I believe this is lesson number two for today: the importance of space and silence. It is astonishing how many social media users publicize everything that is happening to them day by day, hour after hour and almost minute after minute. They post anything without hesitation, and without discernment, including their personal conflicts, quarrels and misunderstandings, and in doing so they hurt even more.
But if we look at St Joseph, we see a person who showed a totally different attitude and behavior even in a time of crisis. And this is what amazes us most about this just and holy man. He did not allow the pain in his heart to be over and above his love for Mary. He always kept his mind over and above his heart. He loved Mary so selflessly that despite feeling broken-hearted he chose to keep Mary’s heart pain-free and preferred to grant her the SPACE and the SILENCE she might be needing at that moment.
The good news is that when Joseph offered that SPACE and SILENCE to her in that seemingly tragic event, he then became even more sensitive to the divine SPIRIT and more perceptive of God’s will. Joseph thought that after his plan “A” failed, his plan “B” would already be fair enough: to grant Mary a decree of separation but silently and privately. However after giving himself some good sleep that very night, he soon realized through a dream that God’s plan was even much better than his plan A or his plan B or any of his short-sighted plans. God’s plan was not only the best forMarybut also for the salvation of the world. And because of his being ultra sensitive to the Spirit, Joseph became instrumental for the birth of the Messiah, not as father of the redeemer, but as his foster father and protector. This is the important role that Joseph played in God’s wonderful plan of salvation for the entire world. For this St Joseph deserves our great honor and veneration. Because of him we can celebrate Christmas joyfully every year. My dear brothers and sisters, space, silence and ultra-sensitivity to the Spirit are some of the more important resolutions we need to practice these days, so that we may not only be overcome by sin but above all fulfil God’s plan in our lives. As we continue living out our Catholic Faith even after five-hundred years, let us look beyond our own needs and the needs of our family. Like Joseph and Mary let us all journey together and participate in the bigger mission of the Church in Asia and the rest of the world longing for a Savior even today. May I invite you now to observe a moment of silence – maybe just one full minute of silence – to enable you to listen more attentively to what God might be telling you as your particular role and mission in his over-all plan of salvation. GiGsss!
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