Do You Listen Like Joseph

In this Sunday’s Gospel, Joseph receives a dream that changes everything. He’s confused and afraid, caught in a situation he never expected. Yet in the quiet of sleep, God speaks: “Do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.” When Joseph wakes, he doesn’t overanalyze or second-guess. He trusts and he acts.

God still speaks today — not usually through angels in dreams, but through the quieter movements of the heart. St. Ignatius of Loyola reminds us that God’s voice draws us toward peace, courage, and love. But to notice that voice, we have to slow down enough to hear it.

Advent invites exactly this kind of stillness. As we prepare for Christ’s coming, we’re called into the quiet spaces where God’s whispers become clear. Where are those spaces for you? Silence before dawn. A walk in nature. A moment of prayer. The steady rhythm of the Mass. Wherever your heart becomes most receptive, go there this week. Be still. Listen. And like Joseph, have the courage to act on what God reveals.

Sometimes we long for God’s guidance to be unmistakable — a message as clear as the angel’s words to Joseph. But Joseph’s clarity didn’t come from the dream alone. It came from a life already rooted in devotion to God’s will. When we offer our lives with the same openness, we too will recognize what God asks of us. We will listen like St. Joseph.