Dec 19: Dreams and Visions

Georges de la Tour: The Dream of St. Joseph

Fourth Sunday of Advent

Gospel: Mt 1:18-25

When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus (NRSV, Mt 1:24-25).

Lord God, Joseph was a dreamer, not only Joseph, son of Jacob, but also Joseph, son of another, much later, Jacob. This second Joseph was the husband of Mary the mother of Jesus.

Like both Josephs who found guidance from you in dreams, many of us, Lord, have sought you out in dreams and visions. Jacob, the father of the first Joseph also trusted in dreams, as did others, Gideon, Nathan, Solomon, and Daniel. In the Book of Deuteronomy, on the other hand, we read that prophets and those who divine by dreams shall be put to death for having spoken treason against you, Lord our God. Jeremiah too warns us against diviners of dreams who would lead us astray. What, Lord, is your will for us?

Lord God, you speak one Word to all of us. Because it is an eternal Word, it is spoken in time in every moment, from that first moment in the womb when in the power of the Spirit we receive from you, Lord, both physical life and a sharing in your divine life.

Throughout all of human history and during the life of each of us, as you call us forward in every moment to grow in you, Lord, we struggle in the Spirit to understand that Word, deep within us, spoken once and for all and yet spoken always.

There are many privileged occasions, when for this reason or that, one among us seems to see more clearly than the others. Often this new understanding, hardly a new revelation, is associated with a mysterious occurrence like a dream or a vision because in a world governed by cause and effect the understanding must seem to come from somewhere. It really comes, Lord, from within us where it resides always, waiting to be understood in response to your one unchanging gracious act.

If we would better grasp the future to which you call us, Lord, help us to understand more fully your one Word spoken from eternity. Help us to learn from the Word incarnate, the Lord Jesus Christ, from our sisters and brothers in the faith and from all people of good will, but help us most of all to turn inward and to meet you there in your Spirit as you speak your Word. Help us then to give expression to our greater understanding of your Word, by dreams or visions or however, as long as our lives may change, growing in your love and sharing that love with one another.

Alleluia. Amen.