On the fourth and final Sunday of Advent, the Church invites us to listen to the story of “how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.” The Christmas story is so familiar to us that we could probably recite it word for word, like Linus in the famous scene from “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” This familiarity, however, breeds not contempt, nor even mere nostalgia. Hearing the story again and again, year after year, only makes us grow in affection for it, because we recognize that it is our story, too. Every family is meant to become a Holy Family; every home is meant to welcome the Christ Child. CNS photo/Tom McCarthy Jr., Catholic Review In this Sunday’s Gospel, we hear a portion of this great story, told from St. Joseph’s perspective. Joseph is described very simply by Matthew as “a righteous man” – dikaios in Greek or tzaddik in Hebrew. This term appears frequently in the Old Testament to describe law-abiding, Torah-observant Jews, as well individuals who serve as authentic models of piety. In Matthew’s Gospel, however, “righteousness” refers above all to obedience to God’s will (see Matthew 3:15; 5:20; 6:33; 21:32). The one who is “righteous” is the one who cooperates with the salvific plan of God as it unfolds in his or her particular circumstances. St. Joseph is righteous in both senses. It is his fidelity to the precepts of the Law that motivate his decision to divorce Mary, and to do so “quietly” rather than “exposing her to shame.” But it is his deeper righteousness, his unwavering obedience to the plan of God unfolding in his own life, that allows him to receive the message of the angel and change his course of action. Joseph could surpass the demands of ordinary justice because of his strong and serious devotion to the living God. He could dream bigger because his righteousness was motivated by love. In a wonderful catechesis from December 1, 2021, Pope Francis spoke about St. Joseph as a just man. His remarks focused first on how “God’s voice intervenes in Joseph’s discernment,” pointing to the need for all of us to “cultivate a just life and, at the same time, to always feel the need for God’s help to broaden our horizons and to consider the circumstances of life from an always different, larger perspective.” Indeed, we must live a righteous life, free from grave sin, to properly discern God’s will; it is a prerequisite. But we will never really know God’s plan for our lives until we allow Him to summon us out of our smallness. This requires listening to His voice in the intimacy of prayer, and even in our dreams, just as St. Joseph did. Pope Francis goes on to apply St. Joseph’s righteousness to the context of marriage. Addressing newlyweds, the pope speaks of the importance of passing from “the logic of falling in love” to “the logic of a mature love.” His words are worth quoting at length. He said: “Precisely when falling in love with its expectations seems to come to an end, that is where true love begins or true love enters in there. In fact, to love is not the pretension that the other person, or life, should correspond to our imagination. Rather, it means to choose in full freedom to take responsibility for one’s life as it comes. This is why Joseph gives us an important lesson. He chooses Mary with ‘his eyes open.’ We can say ‘with all the risks.’” This makes me think of another quotation from C.S. Lewis’ book, “The Four Loves,” on the vulnerability of love. Lewis writes: “To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.” St. Joseph’s heart was not wrapped up, locked away, or unbreakable. He loved “with a father’s heart” – Patris Corde, to quote Pope Francis’s title for his apostolic letter on St. Joseph. This is a heart full of courage and a keen sense of justice, yes, but it is also a heart full of vulnerability, a heart open to something deeper, greater, and more mysterious than it could ever dream up on its own. In a word, Joseph loved with a heart open to God and to His Son. At the end of this Advent season, we must ask for hearts like St. Joseph’s. We have heeded John the Baptist’s call to “repent” of our sins and to turn away from the “hobbies” and “little luxuries” that entangle us. But we must now turn with tenderness toward the vulnerability of Divine Love, the Love that makes itself little for our salvation at Christmas. And only then, with St. Joseph, will we begin to understand the biggest dream of all: the dream of God, fulfilled in the Person of Jesus Christ. Father Zane Langenbrunner is parochial vicar at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Fort Wayne. The post ‘Dream Bigger’: Following St. Joseph into Christmas appeared first on Today's Catholic. ...read more read less