Today’s Scripture Readings

Gospel Reading

NRSV

— 13 Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I have called my son.’ — 19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, ‘He will be called a Nazorean.’

As the head of the Holy Family, Joseph must have felt almost helpless at times: how could he, a simple carpenter, protect his wife and newborn son against the plots of kings? But Joseph did not let his fears cause him to despair: he remained open to the possibility that God had plans. This is surely the only way that he was able to act on the basis of the strange dreams that God sent him, even going so far as to uproot his family and flee to another country: because he was able to trust that there was a loving God who would protect them in spite of the dangers.

In uncertain and fearful times, we may feel that there is little that we can do to protect our loved ones from the dangers of the world around us. These fears can cause us to close down, to focus selfishly on our own needs, to shut out those frightening external realities that seem to threaten our way of life. But consider this: if the Egyptians to whom Joseph and Mary fled with their infant son had acted in this way, then the Holy Family would not have found refuge.

So, what is the remedy for fearful paralysis? In part, at least, it is an openness to possibility: a trusting belief that God has good plans in mind for us, even when things seem hopeless. In his book, Let us Dream, Pope Francis spoke of “overflow”—the unforeseen possibilities that God has planned, which exceed our expectations and even what we can imagine, bringing life and hope where we might only see disaster and despair. If we trust in this overflowing goodness of God, then we can be set free from fear and selfishness and empowered to live in hope and generosity.