God’s fulfillment is a great and wonderful
mystery, and we see it writ large in the Holy Family: in the redeeming power of
their obedience. Joseph obeyed the angel no matter what, and so obeyed God; and
he obeyed the wisdom of his wife. Mary emptied herself for God at the word of
the angel, and she obeyed the protective initiatives of her husband. This
mutual obedience of husband and wife, first to God and then to one another, is
an image of the obedience that Jesus would give, first to His Father and then
to His parents in Nazareth.
The Flight into Egypt, James
Lesesne Wells, (American, Altanta,
Georgia 1902–1993 Washington, D.C.), ca. 1940, Linocut on Japanese paper, The
Metroploitan Museum of Art, used with permission. Reflection by Father Vincent.
