By now the angel knows his way through St. Joseph's dreams.
The first time the angel came to St. Joseph was to strengthen him to accept being the foster father of the Son of God: "Joseph, Son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is by the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her" (Mt. 1:20).
But then, after the birth of Jesus, something of Joseph's fear returns. King Herod has heard about the newborn infant King and wants to slaughter Him. Then, as now, worldly power fears innocence.
And so, the angel slips into Jospeh's dream again and whispers: "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" (Mt. 2:13). Now this ordinary carpenter has King Herod after him? In God's plan, the least likely St. Joseph is now the Guardian of the Redeemer.
And then, in exile in Egypt, the angel returns to St. Joseph after the death of Herod. "Rise, take the child and His mother and go to the land of Israel for those who sought the child's life are dead" (Mt. 2:20). And Jospeh obeys. The third dream. But then Joseph hears that Archelaus is ruling in Israel in place of his father Herod. Joseph's fear returns.
Joseph has heard angels and been guided by them. And still he fears. The angel again returns and guides Joseph, through yet another dream, to Galilee (Mt. 2:22). His fear is not a fixated, frantic, disturbance. It is a guided care for Christ Himself. Joseph's fear becomes the raw material which angels now transform into a path for God.
And the angels do this not through hurried overreaction, hasty outbursts of mood, or rushed darts of control fired here and there. They do it through Joseph's dreams. Joseph's dreams are his own, but they also now belong to heaven. If even angels are patient with fear, we can be too. Virtuous patience transforms fear into dreams.
God bless, Msgr. Brian Bransfield
