Principled Stands

My father is known to take a principled stand or two. He's the type of person who won't subscribe to certain local services because of their overt bias, or who goes to the very early morning masses on the big holidays to avoid the three-times-a-year church goers, or who refused to let us watch things that portrayed Cajuns in a disparaging light because it was culturally insensitive.

St. Joseph by Gerrit VonHonthorst - 1620

Speaking of fathers, did you know that St. Joseph doesn't speak in any account in Scripture? Seriously. Don't believe me? Go ahead and stop reading, Google it, and then come back.

See? I'll admit that I didn't make this observation on my own. I've actually been thinking about this since a very astute deacon pointed this out to my school during a homily given on St. Joseph's feast day. I thought, not even a "yes" or a "I'm on it" or "don't us Israelites have a bad history in Egypt?"  Nothing. Just pure action.

Some Biblical scholars might dismiss this as being a small matter in the grand scheme of the Infancy Narratives. After all, people spoke to Joseph, and the Gospel writers clearly record his subsequent actions when he was spoken to. Plus there are many righteous people in the Bible who don't say a word. Maybe Joseph's is a classic case of actions speaking louder than words. All the information we need to call Joseph a "righteous" man clearly resounds through what he does to protect his family. But still, I think the fact Joseph is silent is one of the more poignant subtlties of the Gospels (Sorry John. You used a lot of pretty language too, but I still perfer Luke and Matthew.)

Joseph didn't need to leave us with a collection of sayings or teachings to convey the meaning of righteousness. Imagine how hard it must have been to muster the courage to do exactly what God was calling him to do. Marrying the girl you're engaged to who you discover is pregnant before you;re living together? That was surely the end of many friendships right there. It might have even caused a rift in his own family. But Joseph obviously wasn't one to break under pressure from lookers-on. He stood on his principles: that if God calls on you to do something, you listen.

I realize that it might be a bit of a leap to say that Mary and Joseph didn't have many friends; there isn't much contextual evidence of that. But I have a feeling that the climate surrounding an unexpected pregnancy today hasn't changed much since the first century -- the stigma, the ostracizing, the labeling.  This makes me appreciate Joseph more. Not only did he shoulder the task of taking care of a precious family, but he did it in the face of great scrutiny. Talk about a principled stand.

I love my Iphone. It's my best friend. If you've ever met me, you'll know it rarely leaves my hand. I think that technology is a beautiful thing, but I do think it's acclimating us to reach for things that make life easier and faster. For instance, if my weather app doesn't load faster than five seconds, I feel like my head's going to explode. Sometimes I think that it's important to remember Joseph -- we need to be reminded that doing the right thing might be the most uncomfortable, unpopular, or under appreciated act, but it's still worth doing.

TL;DR? Principled stands are hard. In fact, our culture at present is seemingly teaching us to strive for the exact opposite. I'm so lucky that I have a father in my life who, like St. Joseph, is someone who still believes in principles.

Happy Father's Day!