During Lent we should look to the model obedience of Mary and Joseph.
The month of March falls entirely within Lent this year, but there are a few feasts to lighten the mood, including in fairly quick succession that of St Joseph on the 19th (actually this year transferred to the next day, as 19 March is a Sunday) and the Annunciation on the 25th. Two Christmas lights in the Lenten darkness, one might say.
Because in fact not only does the Annunciation very obviously anticipate the nativity of Jesus, but the celebration of St Joseph too revolves around the conception of the Christ Child, and the similarities and the differences between these two annunciations are equally important. Both Mary and Joseph receive a visit from an angel and are told of Mary’s pregnancy, but there are further details that matter: in both cases, it is emphasised that Joseph is a descendant of David, emphasising the baby’s Messianic credentials, as it were – though in each case it is also clear that Joseph is not the biological father of the child. Thus, for both Gospel writers, Jesus is at once the fulfilment of the historical expectations of Israel and yet at the same time a radical rupture in the continuity of his people’s history, an astonishing twist in the story.
Secondly, both Mary and Joseph are told that the child’s existence is due to the work of the Holy Spirit. That this should be mentioned in Luke’s story is no surprise: the Holy Spirit is all over his Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles that he also wrote. The Spirit throughout acts as a crucial character in the story, driving the narrative forward. But the Holy Spirit appears less frequently in Matthew, only five times altogether including two in the infancy narrative. Clearly the Spirit-driven nature of the conception of Jesus is of vital importance.
Thirdly, both St Joseph and Our Lady are told that they must call the child Jesus. St Matthew clarifies that this is “because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins”. The name Jesus, Iesous in Greek, is the translation of Yehoshua or Joshua, which does (probably) mean “The Lord saves”, but perhaps Our Lady is also being invited to ponder on the fact that her son is to share a name with the successor of Moses.
What then of the differences between these two annunciations? The most striking of them is how much longer St Luke’s story is than St Matthew’s, and that is because St Joseph, being asleep, does not say anything. The angel speaks, and then departs, and that is (almost) the end of the story. Our Lady, on the other hand, has a long and well-known conversation with the angel, during which she asks for an explanation: “How can this come about, since I am a virgin?” Notice that she does not demand proof, as Zechariah already has, leading to his temporary loss of speech. Mary asks for an explanation, showing herself to be an instinctive theologian, since theology is “faith seeking understanding”.
This leads to a second difference: having asked for this explanation, Mary receives, if not exactly proof, then a sign, the pregnancy of her cousin Elizabeth. This is part of the way in which Luke establishes her as a much more dynamic and interesting character than Joseph, as she will respond to this news by making her compassionate visitation to her cousin in Judaea.
Next, Joseph’s angel is unnamed, though I have always liked to think it was Gabriel. This is, I think, another instance of the encounter being less detailed and less personal – a vision, not a meeting. And this, in turn, is part of that broader sense that St Joseph has a much less developed character than Our Lady. What he is really like, we shall have to wait until we meet him in heaven to find out.
But one thing is sure: he truly is one of the great saints in heaven, and that is because, like Mary, he was obedient to the extraordinary demands of God’s plan of salvation. “He did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do.” Each of them, in their distinctive ways, is a model of obedience for us to follow as we continue our Lenten journeys.
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