Today, March 19th, is the feast day of St Joseph.
There isn't much in the Bible about the earthly father of Jesus. But from what it says, we can learn from his example of swift obedience.
In a time and culture where the circumstances of Jesus' conception would have been met with dire consequences, Joseph wanted to deal with the situation with dignity.
His reaction to hearing about Mary's pregnancy was to dismiss her privately. Perhaps his motives may have come from a sense of self preservation, as word of the scandal may have also hurt his reputation.
Regardless, when he was confronted by the angel in a dream, Joseph's response is an example of how we should be obedient to God.
He didn't procrastinate. He didn't take a day to go over his options. He didn't set aside time to come up with a plan. He awoke from sleep and did what the angel of the Lord told him. (Matthew 1:24)
And when an angel warned him in a dream about Herod's plan to kill the newborns, Joseph got up in the middle of the night and took Mary and Jesus to Egypt. (Matthew 2:14)
And again, when an angel visited him in a dream telling him it was safe to return, he got up and returned to Israel. (Matthew 2:21)
Too often we get caught up in our own plans and our own understanding. That's not to say that we shouldn't discern whether or not the message we're receiving is aligned with God's will.
Rather, when the message is clear, we still do everything we can to insert our will into what God wants for us.
Delayed obedience is still disobedience. When we don't act when God tells us to, the blessings that He had in store get delayed. Who are we to let our hesitance and doubt get in the way of God's blessings? St. Joseph is an example of humility and swift obedience. May we learn from him to listen and obey swiftly to bring about the Father's kingdom.
St. Joseph, please pray for us. That we may learn to be swiftly obedient to the Father's will. That when God sends us a message we learn not to rely on our own understanding, but to get up and go. That we may humbly accept God's roles for us, and answer the call with all of our being.