Saint Joseph

Sleeping St. Joseph

Saint Joseph had providential dreams twice, which of course happened when he was sleeping:

 First during the announciation to St. Joseph Our Gospel today tells  us how the angel of the Lord announces to st. Joseph through the angel in his dreams that the child conceived in the womb of Mary is the Son of God (Matthew 1:19-25)

the second is during the Flight into Egypt. (Matthew 2:13-15)

We know that in this season of Christmas, the Nativity is never complete without the man God chose to be a foster father to Jesus. With much obedience and humility, Saint Joseph had taken Jesus wholeheartedly, and carried the biggest responsibility of a father the world has ever seen. The Sleeping Saint Joseph teaches us important life lessons that we can reflect on. As an ordinary Catholic, how can we relate with his story and learn from it?

1. When there’s nothing else you can do, it’s not too bad to just sleep! That is, to sleep as you rest in the Lord.

Sometimes, there comes a point in our lives when we are too lonely or burdened with problems, or conflicted with making very important decisions that we almost give up. We feel like there’s nothing we can do anymore and that no resolution awaits our misery. It drains us to think of ways to get through until we find ourselves exhausted and sleep becomes a temporary escape. But perhaps, to sleep is not too bad, if we do so by faithfully resting in God’s merciful embrace. That is, to entrust to God in prayer our fears, pains and struggles just as Saint Joseph restfully did.

Saint Joseph wanted to quietly leave and divorce his wife Mary, as he did not understand beforehand that she conceived her Son through the Holy Spirit. In the Gospels, we find him dreaming. An ordinary man like us, Saint Joseph did sleep with worries in his heart. But as we know, he was also a “righteous man,” so we expect that he did not only sleep, he surely must have had rested in God by prayer. When we are at our lowest or powerless about certain situations, we must humble ourselves and pray.

Let me share with you this simple self-composed prayer I wrote a while ago:

“God Almighty, I come before You faced with many difficulties. I surrender everything to you with faith. As I fall asleep, let me be comforted with Your peace and the Motherly love of the Blessed Virgin. Please give light to my situation and help me through as You bless me once more with another day in You. Amen.”

2. At times, it’s better to sleep, than to talk!

Remember the common saying that arguing couples should not sleep without solving their issue? Probably it isn’t completely true. When we are emotional, our actions and reactions can get carried away. If we discuss things over while we’re in the heat of a tensed moment, we might say something that we don’t mean at all. When hurtful words are blurted out and unwise things are done, it won’t be easy to take those back.

This can also happen when we force ourselves and we force it on God to solve our problems overnight. When we’re up at night and starting to rant at God of our frustrations and cares, then it’s time we sleep, rest and pray, and let God do the talking! It is by resting in the Lord, by listening to Him in prayer, that we feel His loving presence direct us and overcome the noises in our lives. Let us remember the Sleeping Saint Joseph who, in the silence of his restful dream, heard God’s calling for him and understood His Divine plan. Remember though that angels don’t just appear in somebody’s dreams. In the Bible, they only appear to people like Saint Joseph in his dreams, when God sends them from Heaven for a very important message. While we are most likely not to see an angel appear in our dream, if we do earnestly pray before we sleep each day, we might wake up with God’s inner voice in our hearts clearly telling us what we’re supposed to do.

3. Give your faithful confidence and obedience to God as you awaken from your “sleep”!

Our trials can seem as if they are the longest nightmares that we’re trapped in. But one day, we can suddenly feel God calling us to rise and directing our hearts what to do and where to go. It is like waking up from the darkest night of our souls and like Saint Joseph, we must trust in God and never doubt His aid. Saint Joseph had no idea what would happen next after his dreams, but he didn’t complain at all. He did exactly what he’s told to do, which was to take his wife Mary and name the Child “Jesus,” and left Bethlehem, headed to Egypt at once. To all of us, Saint Joseph is an example of holiness, obedience and faithful confidence in God, without the blabbing and questioning that we are so often tempted to do at present.

4. Wake up from your “sleep” and respond to God’s call, quickly and timely!

Many Catholics, including myself, claim that we live a righteous life at peace with God. However, it is only during challenging times that we can ever prove ourselves where we stand in God. “Do I still love God even I have so many sufferings?” “How much am I willing to sacrifice for the sake of God and my faith?” “Am I willing to live a moral life, even my situation makes it hard to do so?” When trials arise, we might be too focused on the hardship and the sadness they bring that we fail to answer swiftly to God’s call. On the other hand, there are times when we’re too happy in life that we only see what’s fleeting, the material things. We act so slow that we miss out on the opportunity to serve God and the chance He is giving us to follow as He leads.

Saint Joseph carried the weight of the Holy Family, right from the very start all the way to the Nativity of Jesus. Waking up from his dreams, he didn’t waste any time and fulfilled what God wanted him to do at the very moment he was told to.

Let us be all-ears to the call of God! He is awakening our faith and renewing our spirit. Let us welcome the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus to our home this Christmas just like Saint Joseph kept them deeply in his heart. We must take on our own special roles in life, say, as a husband and father, or a nun on a mission, and do it as a service to the Lord. As the Sleeping Saint Joseph reminds us, we bear our crosses during the day and before our sleep in the silence of the night, we must intently and restfully be with God in prayer!