26 December 2025

Joseph is often neglected in our Christmas celebrations. He has two beautiful gifts to share. Firstly, his silence.  Joseph never speaks. Mary speaks to the angel. Mary sings her Magnificat. And when Mary and Joseph discover the lost child in the Temple, it isn’t Joseph who reprimands him. It is Mary.

Joseph is there in the Temple, in Egypt, in Nazareth and in Jerusalem. His presence confirms the purposes of God. He does what the angel says and every time he fulfils a prophecy. His presence protects, supports and encourages Mary in her vulnerability. But he doesn’t speak. Does it matter? Look what he did!

Secondly, his disappearance. The shepherds notice him but the wise men do not. Simeon sings his song to Mary and Joseph but he only speaks to Mary. ‘Sorrow like a sharp sword will pierce your own heart also.’ Luke reveals Mary’s inner life but says nothing about Joseph’s.

Did Joseph treasure all these things in his heart? He treasured Mary and the newborn baby. For he grew up to be obedient to him and, more importantly, taught us to call his God, Abba. Isn’t that Aramaic for Daddy? This was revolutionary. Was Joseph an Abba too?

And what happened to Joseph? We don’t know. After the childhood of Jesus is over, he doesn’t appear again. Perhaps  he died when Jesus was a teenager? Perhaps his work was done?  Isn’t that what matters most? He doesn’t intrude.

Joseph fulfils God’s work and when it’s done, he disappears. It’s the ministry of absence. It’s all to do with discerning the right time to come and to go, to give and to receive, to be present and to be absent and to fill the emptiness with a hopeful memory.

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