Encountering The Heart Of St. Joseph: Guardian Of The Mystery of God

Obedience is one of the three vows taken by consecrated religious. St. Paul, however, speaks of an “obedience of faith” to which all are called. “Obedience” comes from the Latin “oboedire” – the verb “audire” (“to hear”) and the prefix, ob (“to; toward”). Obedience then is to listen in a way that moves us towards action.

The obedience of faith depends not on our initiative but on God’s self-revelation. God is not a media we choose. God reveals himself when and how he wants.

In St. John Paul II’s encyclical on St. Joseph, the pope identifies Joseph as the model of the obedience of faith and quotes Vatican II’s Dei Verbum, “ ‘The obedience of faith’ must be given  to God as he reveals himself.” St. Joseph responded to angelic dreams in taking Mary as his wife and in the flight to and return from Egypt. He heard and he acted. 

St. Joseph’s obedience to God’s revelation to Mary is also instructive. God chose to reveal his will for Mary not in angelic dreams but in the appearance of St. Gabriel, the salutation of Elizabeth and the prophecy of Simeon. Despite the very different character of these revelations, St. Joseph listened to God speaking to and through Mary. Here, too, St. Joseph acted. 

Am I listening with an obedient heart? Do I limit the ways God can reveal himself to me or to others? St. Joseph pray that we may hear and obey and in doing so draw close to your son’s holy face. 

Shane M. Owens PhD

Assistant Professor of Theology, 

Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University