Ugly
Paper, Priceless Gift: Saint Joseph in Advent Ugly Paper,
Priceless Gift: Saint Joseph in Advent Ugly Paper,
Priceless Gift: Saint Joseph in Advent

Ugly Paper, Priceless Gift: Saint Joseph in Advent

The German theologian Karl Rahner once said that we must always see our life “against an infinite horizon”.  Translated into ordinary language, he encourages us to ponder how God is at work in every area of our existence and every event of daily life in an attempt to make us a better person, a person of love, a saint.  Rahner advises us to be forever on the lookout for God’s hand - some deeper meaning to every incident that happens in our life that can make us more fully who we can be.  So, if something tragic happens - an illness, the death of a loved one, the loss of our job, or our wealth, or an eye - Rahner’s advice would be to ponder, “What does God want me to do with this?  How does God want me to learn from this and paint it onto a broader canvas, a bigger picture, the eternal horizon of my holiness?”  If something good happens to us (e.g. we succeed somewhere in life, or make a lot of money, or enter a marvellous new relationship), we should ask ourselves the same question: “How will this make me more who I am supposed to be? What is God saying to me in this?”  In the ups and downs of life, God speaks.  As I said to our Year 12 students just yesterday, gifts are gifts, whether they are wrapped in beautiful or ugly paper, with a bow on top or not.

Saint Joseph is a great figure for helping us understand this.  Last Sunday morning on BBC Radio Jersey, as Matthew Price and I were discussing Beaulieu’s Feast Day and the season of Advent, we mentioned in passing how poor Joseph can seem a bit of a forgotten figure at this time of year.  Well, Holy Joe is definitely back centre stage in the gospel for this coming Sunday, the 4th Sunday of Advent!  There we hear that the news of Jesus’ conception is given to Joseph rather than to Mary (Gabriel’s more famous annunciation to her is found in Luke).  People often do not realise that this pregnancy completely messed up Joseph’s life and plans - at least initially!  Mary is pregnant with a child that Joseph knew wasn’t his.  We are told that he is a “just” man, someone who lives his life by the Jewish Law of God. In every way, then, Joseph tries to be a good bloke, as evidenced by the way he refuses to expose Mary to public shame and mortal danger, choosing instead to break off their betrothal quietly because of what he assumed she had done. To save his own reputation, he could have demanded a public inquiry and, had Mary been accused of adultery, it probably would have meant her death. In spite of his pain, however, he spares Mary embarrassment and capital punishment.  Later, of course, when he learns the truth of the situation, he provides a place for her child to be born and raised.

Joseph shows here how we can be deeply faithful to everything within our own cultural tradition (in his case, 1st-century Judaism) and yet at the same time also be open to re-thinking the ideas of that tradition.  He was receptive to something that was not what he planned for, not what he would have chosen if consulted in advance, but which was also part of a bigger plan than the one he had mapped out for himself.  He slowly realised that there may be a richer mystery beyond his own way of thinking. God’s plans stretched Joseph’s present way of thinking and included something that did not fit into his religious framework at that time. I am all in favour of good theology - we need it lest we talk nonsense about God (as we often do!) - but one of the abiding dangers of any theological system will be the temptation to think it has God sussed, got God all mapped out.  Some adherents of religions think that God cannot do anything outside what the Church or their religious authorities have decided.  But when Mary gets pregnant, Joseph is forced to ask, “Where is God’s hand in this new data I have to process in my life?”  What is God up to?  What is God trying to say to me through this?  Joseph then begins to see more deeply how his life is not just about him and his agenda, but about God’s agenda, since God is the one who has given him life in the first place.

God can and does use the events of our life to console us, challenge us, get us to change direction, learn and become more loving (more holy).  These experiences are what theology calls graces, God-moments, surprises that nudge us forward. Graces are a technical word for gifts.  Life is all grace, a gift from a Giver:  What do we see as we look at the world and at our life?  What and who speak to us in our life? What or whom is God using to speak to us?  Gifts come wrapped in nice and ugly paper. What gifts are we being sent?