This morning I recalled the Blue Mary I saw in stained glass at Chartres Cathedral outside Paris two years ago. This being for Christians the day after the crucifixion I consider her blueness a symbol of her sadness.Then as also occurred to me a year ago at Easter, I thought of Joseph. Where on Earth was Joseph? Where are the sermons related to Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus?
I don't mean to be offensive to Mary, but churches and shrines are filled with images and sculptures of Mary and Mary Magdalene, their love, their grief, such sorrow.
Where was Joseph? What was it like for him to witness the loss of his son? Did he resort to hiding, disguising his grief like so many men and some women of today, ashamed of tears or hardened to pain? Did he feel inadequate to hold his personal pain let alone his partners?
Then I recalled while in Lyon's cathedral, Joseph stood on a lower level. He stood in the shadows on a lower level where work was being done with a young boy, I suspect, Jesus in his arms.
May the blue Mary's of the world find their missing Josephs and gently call them from the shadows, from the lower levels so the work of the healthy masculine and feminine may be done.
-Dawn! The Good News Muse, 23 April 2011
P.S. Upon posting this, a new friend shared a link about Joseph in the comment section. The link includes what historians think as to his absence as well as Joseph's being a Saint. And yet I still love the image of the blue Mary's and Sally's and Sarah's and Donna's and all the women of the world calling their Joseph, John, Tom, Dave, Bob and Joe from the shadows so the Masculine and Feminine can balance and be and in love be set free.
3 comments:
Hi Dawn - I also just realized last night that David did some work for you!! As for Joseph he is a Saint and many buy his medals. Here is a link about St. Joseph and why he may not have been present during the end of the life of Jesus. http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=4
Mary wears blue to represent the sky and how like the sky she covers us in her blue mantle of love and protection.
Interesting thoughts, Dawn, and thanks for the reminder of the need for the balance of both....for me, today, Easter means finding the "new" in each moment...your words enrich that process for me.....from Judi
Dawn, I too have been trying to make sense of the absentee nature of St. Joseph! And I searched for several years while interviewing priests,etc. The fact of the matter is almost nothing is factually known about him. But much greatness is ascribed to him with little basis for belief. Speculation is as good as it gets! If he died before or during Jesus's public life, these is no reference to that enormous event. What is most amazing is the tremendous amount of "Saintliness" attributed to him. Hospitals, fatherness, protector, carpenter, medals,cities, all over the world named after him...and not one quote from the scriptures? He was spirtually "forced" into a life of marital celebacy! This would be highly unusual for a married Jew of his time. Was he asexual!? No other siblings of Jesus? Some experts assume he died, some speculate abandonment, some don't have the foggiest idea of where he was in Jesus's life. And yet if his saint day(March 19th) falls on a meatless Friday(Lent), the meat restriction is withdrawn this once. Meat on Friday during Lent? Now there's a Saint with some power! A true mystery without clues to who he was or to why he was so great. Anther example of a supernatural mystery that requires faith! I'd sure like to find out more.
~Wayne
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