Theme of Pope’s general audience: ‘St. Joseph, a man who dreams’
January 26, 2022
At his January 26 general audience—the ninth in a series of Wednesday audiences on St. Joseph—Pope Francis reflected “on the figure of St Joseph as a man who dreams.”
Previous audiences were devoted to St. Joseph and the environment in which he lived (November 17), St. Joseph and salvation history (November 24), St. Joseph, just man and husband of Mary (December 1), and St. Joseph, man of silence (December 15), St. Joseph, persecuted and courageous migrant (December 29), St. Joseph, Jesus’ foster father (January 5), St. Joseph the Carpenter (January 12), and St. Joseph, father in tenderness (January 19). (There was no general audience on December 8, and the December 22 audience was devoted to preparation for Christmas.)
“In our continuing catechesis on Saint Joseph, we now consider the four dreams by which God spoke to Joseph and revealed his will to him,” Pope Francis said to pilgrims assembled in Paul VI Audience Hall, according to the official Vatican summary of his remarks. “Joseph’s ready response to the Lord can serve as a model for our own efforts to hear God’s voice in our daily lives.”
The summary continued:
In the first dream, Joseph is helped to overcome his distress at learning that Mary was with child, and he responds immediately by taking Mary as his wife. In the second dream, Joseph is told to flee with the Holy Family to Egypt to escape King Herod’s wrath. While in Egypt, Joseph learns in a third dream that they can safely return to their homeland. During the journey, he is told in a fourth dream to settle in Nazareth.
Joseph’s example of interior openness to the Lord’s voice can help us to find wisdom in responding to the uncertainties in our lives, courage in facing threatening situations, and confidence in entrusting even our fears to God’s providential care.
May Saint Joseph’s intercession assist all those who find it difficult to pray, and encourage us to cultivate an interior life that draws us ever closer to the Lord, makes us ever more docile to his will and ever more open to the needs of our brothers and sisters.
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