Today's gospel reading, Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23, draws attention not to the infant Jesus but to Joseph. Perhaps a surprise! Jesus and Mary are referred to simply: "the child and his mother." Let us consider Joseph and his role as Matthew describes them. No mention of his vocation as carpenter. Today we see him as protector.
Surely Joseph had little imagined that the days after the unusual marriage to Mary and the very different birth of her child would be directed by the directions of an angel in a dream: "Rise up ... flee to Egypt." What was this about? It would be a very long walk to guarantee safety for "the child and his mother." But Herod, the king, driven by the greed for power, had ordered the deaths of all boys under the age of two years. He was told that a new born child would grow to be a king, threatening his power. Joseph was fulfilling the directions he learned in the dream. He may not have known how fatal it would have been to have remained in Bethlehem. He did know that the protection of the "child and his mother" was a primary responsibility for him.
Today's parents realize their new offspring are threatened by various kinds of violence and dangers. Today's parents may not have to walk almost as far as New York City from our DC area. Nevertheless they realize that they must take extraordinary precautions in raising their offspring. There are predators, culture practices and diseases that surround today's children and their well-being.
Parents today, like Joseph, many times must walk in the dark while raising children. It may be in the darkness of doubt or unknowing or the lack of family or community support. Today's parent must be a man or woman of prayer. Yes, prayer. For it will be the teacher, the instructor that leads along the right course. Prayer can become the rising sun that sheds light upon the best path for the journey.
Just as a parent wants athletics, cultural skills and so forth for their child, the parent must also be the prayer who teaches children right from wrong, who leads the child to a knowledge of God. However, there will be times when a parent, like Joseph, may grow tired along the roadway of the parental journey. There will be times when walking just a short distance may feel like 1000 miles. However, they should not forget Joseph and the model he is for them. He walked to a place he did not know. Most likely he knew no one there. Bust, as we know, his "Egypt" did not last forever.
If parents pray and trust God, the moments of darkness will end, and, like Joseph, they will take their family where God wants them and where they will live in peace. Joseph believed God would not abandon him nor the child and his mother. So, too, a parent who makes prayer and God an important part of their lives will realize that God will not abandon them and their children.
