Reflection for the Vigil of St. Joseph

HEARTACHE………
What is it?

Throughout our human existence people have experienced heartache. More recently you might remember the Pamela Butler case In KCK …28 years ago when 10 yr old Pamela was snatched from her from front yard as she played. She was murdered.

…THEN there was Elizabeth Smart, 21 years ago, at age 14 was kidnapped from her bedroom. She was found safe.

…THEN there was Nancy Guthrie whose saga we are caught up in as her on-going search continues.

There are so many stories of lost people.
The lost boys of the Sudan
The immigrant children stripped from their parents arms and caged
The people caught up the Middle East crisis
The throw-away children in our society because of divorce, handicap
The elderly left alone in nursing homes or in their own families
The children missing in the flood waters in Texas
The children, boys and girls, snatched into human trafficking
The tragedies go on and on

What HEART ACHE……the same experiences of intense emotional suffering, deep grief and severe sorrow all caused by the loss of loved ones.

Over all of these years, the sadness is lasting as Pamela’s mom says. The grief continues after the funeral, after the story grows cold in the newspaper. The anxiety, though, is always there.

Even when Elizabeth was found, the scars of the trauma remain.

…and …. THEN there was Joseph and Mary who lost their boy, their son, Jesus, after their visit to the temple in Jerusalem. On their travel home to Nazareth, they looked with longing finally, to be home, to be able to just “be” with their little family.

As was their custom in their time, the men traveled alone, and the women were grouped in their travels. Arriving home, they asked one another,

“where was Jesus?“

Mary thought he was with Joseph, who thought their son was with his mother.

Oh… the anxiety …. the HEARTACHE…that gripped them both as they searched for Jesus who was nowhere to be found….

Pamela’s mother crying out, “where is my daughter?”
Elizabeth’s father sobbing on TV interviews…” where is my daughter, Elizabeth…Elizabeth!”
the Guthries, “Bring Nancy home!”

…and Joseph, the protector and provider for the Holy Family, did he not experience HEARTACHE. For Joseph this HEARTACHE, this anxiety, was nothing new …. for he experienced it when he discovered Mary’s unexpected pregnancy, the HEARTACHE when they were escaping Herod’s hunt for them….

He overcame this anxious stress through his faith and through his silence. He knew that if he would settle into solitude, he would come upon God in himself, for he trusted in God.

For us, these are definitely anxious moments in the world in which we live. So many sons, daughters, and loved ones are lost.

Might we ask ourselves a simple question,

“how is my heart in the midst of the turmoil around me?”

Looking to Joseph a silent and just man, his simple example of settling into solitude is profound for us to embrace…

Joseph, please teach us how to trust as you did in the God who never leaves us.

The silence we yearn for is shattered by war and violence yet teach us to go into our heart’s silence and solitude to find your presence.

Teach us to trust as you trusted as you worked quietly in your carpentry shop speaking little yet giving your HEARTACHE space in which to expand into union with God.

With grateful hearts, St Joseph, we ponder your example.