by Rev. Herbert Nichols

An un-circulated story is told of a small boy who decided to build a table as a birthday gift for his mom. Since this was the boy’s first attempt at carpentry, his father offered to help him. However, the young boy refused the offer saying: he had watched his father at work and was fully capable of making the table on his own.

The boy worked diligently, but his unskilled hands were not up to the task; the table legs were uneven and the table wobbled the boy’s gift did not turn out as he had planned.

But humility taught him to recognize that our own natural and acquired assets are gifts, not something of our own making. Furthermore the gifts we have (like the father’s skills) are not for ourselves alone, but for sharing.

To deny our gifts or accepting the gifts from others prevents us from receiving what God has planned to freely give us. Humility is not a weakness or a denial of who I am, but a spirit of celebration and gratitude. When you encounter a truly humble person you are not likely to see a whimp, but a person whom you can respect for what he does and more important for who he is.

Did Jesus refuse guidance from St. Joseph. Did Jesus insist on knowing how to do it his way? Scripture does not record a single word about these events of hidden years of Jesus’ life. That doesn’t mean that nothing important was said or done; for we can be sure that Joseph did many of the same kind of things we do

He entered into business relationships with his customers. He enter into an engagement agreement with Mary. He suffered great distress when he learned his fiancée was pregnant knowing he was not the father. He struggled with what to do--not to react-- but to take action with dignity and respect.

In his struggle, he asked direction from God. Humility did not prevent him standing front and center as a man of faith. When God answered Joseph’s plea, through the message of an angel, he was told to follow through on the engagement--to take Mary as his wife, an despite the certainly confusing direction, Joseph did exactly as he was told.

Today we live in a culture bombarded with words and graphics we are very much in need of a saint like Joseph, who can teach us to take time for silence, to find answers in silence, not in what we do or what we say, but most important of all in being who we are--an answer which can be found only in stillness.