Kimberly and I have been spending time this summer at our home near Gaylord and traveling in our motor home. This past week we made a 3-day trip through the Upper Peninsula in search of the best pasty based on a list Kimberly found. Although the search is still on, I’ve already learned three things from our endeavor. First, all the pasties so far are good. The “best” depends on personal taste and preference. Second, I’m already sick of pasties! Third, I’m so grateful that our seminarian, Peter, has offered to help write for my Deacon’s Corners while he is with us. Here is another beautiful piece Peter wrote about the mutual trust between Mary and Joseph in their marriage:
We often do not think about the relationship between Mary and St. Joseph, but they lived out the most perfect marriage that has ever existed. Mary was sinless, and St. Joseph was extremely holy; as a result, their marriage was the holiest marriage the world has ever seen. Though it was so holy, it was still a real human marriage with the same relational dynamics that exist in every marriage. Thus, Mary and Joseph needed to trust one another, as all couples do.
Mutual trust is powerful and resilient, because the two people lean heavily on the other and know that they are loved and supported. However, mutual trust is also remarkably vulnerable since it is hypersensitive to any act of infidelity, or even a lack of attentiveness to the other’s needs. Mutual trust is like allowing another person to have a hand inside your ribcage and touch your heart directly: one wrong move causes extreme pain. Yet this is how Mary and Joseph trusted one another. Can you imagine the tenderness and vulnerability of the sinless, Immaculate Heart of Mary? Even though it was a risk (since love and trust are always risks), Mary chose to trust St. Joseph like this, and she was not disappointed. Both of them trustingly opened their entire heart to the other, allowing the other person to love and care for them. This might be most evident to us when Joseph took Mary into his home.
As a young and vulnerable mother, Mary trusted Joseph to protect her and provide for her; she trusted him to love her exactly as she needed to be loved, and Joseph responded by protecting, providing, and loving Mary exactly as she needed. If Mary could trust Joseph to protect, provide, and love her in this way, then we can certainly trust him to protect, provide, and love us. He is a father to us and is the Patron of the whole Church, so he wants to be a part of our lives, he wants us to trust him. Let us trust him in all our weak, worried, and vulnerable places.
Thank you again, Peter, for helping me out. May all of you have a blessed week!
Deacon John
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