4th Sunday of Advent, Cycle A (2025)

Of the various characters we focus on in Advent, one who historically has been overlooked is Joseph. Today’s Gospel tells us that he and Mary were betrothed. We might think that means something like engagement, but actually, it’s marriage. In their culture, marriage was a two-step process. Betrothal was a formal exchange of consent before witnesses. Usually about a year later, the second step occurred, when the groom took the bride into his home.

Joseph learned of Mary’s pregnancy, but it’s not clear, how much he understood God’s curious plan. It’s generally believed that Joseph did not regard himself as worthy of such a great task, the reason he considered divorcing Mary. He must surely have wondered, “Why can’t I just have a normal marriage and family life?”

There’s a Christmas carol from the middle-ages called the Cherry Tree Carol. It’s both curious and charming, though neither biblically or theologically accurate. It speaks of Joseph and Mary’s journey to Bethlehem, to be part of the census, as described in Luke chapter 2. Joseph would likely have walked alongside Mary, soon to have her baby, perched on a donkey’s back.

As they travelled, they entered a lush orchard, bountiful with cherries and berries. Mary, in her mildness and meekness, asked Joseph to gather cherries for her, reminding him that she was with child. But Joseph, seemingly irritated at his familial circumstances, said “Let the Father of the baby gather cherries for thee”. Then, from Mary's womb, the child within her spoke, “Bend down, tallest branches, that my mother might have some”. Indeed, the tree and its branches bowed as Jesus commanded, giving over its cherries to his mother.

For us who have strong devotion to Joseph, we may find it hard to think of him as spiteful, as he seems to be presented in this carol. But if we look beyond the curious presentation, we see a sweet story, inviting us to enter the Holy Family’s experience, in the days that immediately preceded our Savior's birth.

Wondering if he should divorce Mary, I can imagine Joseph struggled to sleep, late into the night with the assortment of feelings alive in his heart: sadness, anger, embarrassment, and fear. Feelings that keep us from sleep, and even more, from hearing God’s voice in whatever way He would want to restore our peace and trust.

As God put Adam into a state of sleep, in order to make a woman from his rib, I’ve wondered if God imposed sleep upon Joseph, his restless heart and mind, in order that He might at last be able to speak to him.

In any case, asleep and freed from his preoccupations, Joseph was able to hear and receive God’s words of comfort and assurance: “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her.”

St. Matthew tells us that, “When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded”. Yet as we know, this would not be the last challenging situation that would be placed on his strong shoulders.

They say that actions speak louder than words. Without a word, Joseph teaches us, in all the difficulties and irregularities that sometimes are part of our lives…

• for all the ways that envy sets in and we wish our situation in life could be like those of other people…

• for all the ways that what is asked of us—our role—demands great humility and even acceptance of others getting the glory, attention and praise…

• for all the ways that God presents us, and trusts us, with responsibilities that come with things we find undesirable, with troubling uncertainties and causes for fear….

• for the ways that prideful distrust whispers to us, telling us to just walk away from our commitments and obligations…

For all those struggles, Joseph would eventually show us that it’s not about us, but instead how we are willing to lay down our lives for the good of others. He would eventually show us that we must trust, and listen within to the voice of God, when the competing voices within, born out of our human frailties and our insecurities, tell us it’s not fair, that it’s not what we ordered, and we should just start over.

Like Joseph, each of us has less than perfect realities that we likely wish were different. But that we might persevere in what’s entrusted to us, let us ask him for prayers, including that we might have hearts ready for the Savior who was entrusted to his paternal care; the Savior who takes on our flesh, entering the messiness of our world and our lives—all as an act of love, all to usher in a new and beautiful order.

Mary and Joseph in the cherry orchard recalls, Adam and Eve in the Garden, where fruit became the source of our curse. The cherry orchard reminds us that the baby in Mary’s womb is the cure. Come, Lord Jesus!

                        THE CHERRY TREE CAROL

When Joseph was an old man, an old man was he

He married Virgin Mary, the Queen of Galilee

He married Virgin Mary, the Queen of Galilee

Joseph and Mary walked through, an orchard green

There were cherries and berries, as thick as might be seen

There were cherries and berries, as thick as might be seen

Mary said to Joseph so meek and so mild

Joseph, gather me some cherries, for I am with child

Joseph, gather me some cherries, for I am with child

Then Joseph flew in anger, in anger flew he

Let the father of the baby gather cherries for thee

Let the father of the baby gather cherries for thee

Then up spoke baby Jesus, from in Mary's womb

Bend down, the tallest branches, that my mother might have some

Bend down, the tallest branches, that my mother might have some

And bend down, the tallest branches

It touched Mary's hand, cried she,

Oh, look thou Joseph, I have cherries by command

Oh, look thou Joseph, I have cherries by command