Holy Family
The listening and the freedom
The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.” ….When Herod had died, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” He rose, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go back there. And because he had been warned in a dream, he departed for the region of Galilee. Mt 2,13-15.19-23
I believe that, for an engineer, the most fascinating work is the one of the Project Manager. You are entrusted a project, a budget to spend and a time for its implementation. From this time the project is yours; you have the authority to make choices and to take the necessary decisions; however, by the end, you have to report on its implementation to the person who has entrusted to you the project. This is what happens to every person who comes into the world: he has a project to be implemented, a time available, some talents to be spent and the freedom to take the necessary decisions. The project exists since the born of the person, but the Lord communicates it gradually , during the years, when the person becomes capable to understand its importance and contents. To become aware of the project, however, the communion with the Lord is necessary. Here we have the reason for the prayer and we have the explanation of the reason because of which Jesus was used to go always on the mountain to pray the Father! The project is gradually communicated in the prayer and in the communion with God, as the wind off of a thread of wool. In the history of the salvation a unique and fundamental task has been assigned to Joseph, such that the important decisions to be taken to implement his project are directly communicated by the angels, the messengers of God: “ Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into home. For it is through the holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her.” (Mt1,20) “ Raise, take with you the child and his mother, flee to Egypt”, “Raise, take the child and his mother and go in the land of Israel”. Joseph has always faithfully obeyed to the commands of the Lord, without giving away, however, the free initiative for the solution of the problems which was possible for a man, as the today Gospel shows: “ But, when he knew that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there”. A wonderful balance between illumination and freedom takes place In the man who lives in communion with the Lord in the prayer, but the final decision is always for the man. The way which the Lord choices to communicate is a various one: it can be a person, a sudden intuition, a verse of the Gospel or an angel; or it can be a door which, without a clear reason, closes up or another which opens in the daily life. We have only to live in the prayer and in the listening.