27.
The communion of life between Joseph and
Jesus leads us to consider once again the mystery of the Incarnation, precisely
in reference to the humanity of Jesus as the efficacious instrument of his
divinity for the purpose of sanctifying man: "By virtue of his divinity,
Christ's human actions were salvific for us, causing grace within us, either by
merit or by a certain efficacy."(39)
Among those actions, the gospel writers
highlight those which have to do with the Paschal Mystery, but they also
underscore the importance of physical contact with Jesus for healing (cf. for
example, Mk 1:41), and the influence Jesus exercised upon John the Baptist when
they were both in their mothers' wombs (cf. Lk 1:41-44).
As we have seen, the apostolic witness did
not neglect the story of Jesus' birth, his circumcision, his presentation in
the Temple, his flight into Egypt and his hidden life in Nazareth. It
recognized the "mystery" of grace present in each of these saving
"acts," inasmuch as they all share the same source of love: the
divinity of Christ. If through Christ's humanity this love shone on all
mankind, the first beneficiaries were undoubtedly those whom the divine will
had most intimately associated with itself: Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and
Joseph, his presumed father.(40)
Why should the "fatherly" love of
Joseph not have had an influence upon the "filial" love of Jesus? And
vice versa why should the "filial" love of Jesus not have had an
influence upon the "fatherly" love of Joseph, thus leading to a
further deepening of their unique relationship? Those souls most sensitive to
the impulses of divine love have rightly seen in Joseph a brilliant example of
the interior life.
Furthermore, in Joseph, the apparent tension
between the active and the contemplative life finds an ideal harmony that is
only possible for those who possess the perfection of charity. Following St.
Augustine's well-known distinction between the love of the truth (caritas
veritatis) and the practical demands of love (necessitas
caritatis),(41) we can say that Joseph experienced both love of the
truth-that pure contemplative love of the divine Truth which radiated from the
humanity of Christ-and the demands of love-that equally pure and selfless love
required for his vocation to safeguard and develop the humanity of Jesus, which
was inseparably linked to his divinity.
|