Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Congratulations with the Resurrection of the Lord, the afterfeast of the Nativity of Christ, and the day of the memory of the holy ancestors of God – the closest, in the worldly sense of the word, relatives of the newly-born Christ child: Joseph, James, and King David!

Of course we understand that out of these three righteous men, only David was a true ancestor of Jesus Christ, although he lived many years earlier. We can consider Joseph Christ’s adopted father and James His adopted brother.

The last several days, as is the case today, we read much about Joseph in the Gospels. Despite this, Christ, His most-pure Mother, the angels, the wise men and the shepherds without a doubt figure more prominently in these readings. Even the bloodthirsty King Herod is more visible than Joseph. This most meek and righteous man, although everywhere present and without whom all of the events related to the Nativity would be impossible, always finds himself off to the side.

It’s interesting to note that throughout the whole of the Nativity story an angel appears to Joseph in dreams three or four times (1. After the conception of Christ in the Virgin, when Joseph is naturally stricken with doubt concerning the situation, not understanding how Mary could have become pregnant. 2. When he was told to flee from Herod to Egypt. 3. When he was told to return to Palestine. 4. Perhaps also when he received instructions to settle in Galilee (here an angel is not mentioned, but we can probably surmise that, as was the case the other times, an angel gave the instructions)). Let’s emphasize that the angel appeared to Joseph in dreams and not while he was awake, as was the case with the Virgin Mary at the Annunciation and with Zechariah when the angel brought him news of the impending birth of John. The reasons for this are as follows: Joseph only had to be helped to correctly understand the situation and to obediently follow instructions, whereas Mary had to consciously agree to become the Mother of Christ. For this reason the angel appeared in a more triumphant way to Mary and even conversed with her, while with Joseph everything was simpler – instructions were given and no conversation took place. Regarding Zechariah the reasons are quite different. John Chrysostom mentions that although Zechariah was righteous, he was far from that level of holiness that Joseph had acquired. Because of this he would not have believed if an angel had appeared to him in a dream. Remember that even the appearance of an angel in the middle of the day didn’t convince him that a son would be born to him. Joseph possessed greater faith, holiness and spiritual keenness and thus easily, without so much as a little doubt, accepted instructions from the angel and fulfilled them with exactness. There was no need for an angel to appear to him in a more concrete fashion.

Let’s also note that the instructions given by the angel were very difficult for Joseph to accept and fulfill. Who out of us would accept into our home a girl, a supposed virgin, raised at the Temple, but who has somehow become pregnant, as our wife? This is so shameful, especially for an old, righteous man. How much scorn must have been poured out on him by his neighbours. Who out of us would move to a foreign country, especially with such haste in the middle of the night, to save someone else’s child? All of this witnesses to the great holiness and righteousness of Joseph. We can only be amazed by him!

Let’s pray that we acquire at least a drop of that holiness, meekness, and spiritual wisdom that Joseph was graced with!

priest Alexis