“Such was his intention when, behold,

the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 

‘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.

She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, 

because he will save his people from their sins.’

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:

Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall name him Emmanuel, 

which means ‘God is with us.’

When Joseph awoke,

he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him 

and took his wife into his home.”

Actions speak louder than words. In all of the gospel accounts, Joseph never speaks. We never hear a single word uttered from his lips. This silent foster father, or adopted father, of Jesus only speaks through his actions. What he does is the will of God. He is a just man and a merciful man, which we know from his actions. Joseph is responsive to God’s guidance and goes to extraordinary lengths to fulfill God’s plan. He is essential to the unfolding of salvation history, pivotal to God’s work on our behalf, yet seeks no say or credit. It reminds me of the saying attributed to St. Francis, “Preach the Gospel at all times: use words if necessary.” Often, our words only matter to others if they have been preceded by our actions on their behalf. In other words, no one cares what you have to say until they know that you care. They know you care through your actions. Words are not unimportant, but if they don’t align with actions they are hollow and spurious at best. Have some skin in the game. Put your money where your mouth is. Walk the walk. Clichés aside, our actions do speak louder than words. What we say is only authentic and real if it is congruent with what we do. No one listens to a hypocrite. Joseph wasn’t a hypocrite. He spoke loudly through what he did and he did the will of God. 

Words are still important, however, especially names. As a child, I received a little card that explained the meaning of the name Jeffrey. According to that card, Jeffrey meant Heavenly Peace. It was both descriptive and aspirational. I desired to embody, at some level, the meaning of my name. As one small example, you may notice that I still sign most correspondence with the greeting, “Peace.” Joseph did as the the angel of the Lord directed and named Mary’s son Jesus. Jesus comes to us from the Greek version of the name Joshua. Combining Hebrew words, Joshua means, “the Lord is salvation.” While we should be cautious to rely solely on etymology to derive the meaning of words, the scripture above also tells us that Jesus is named because he will save his people from their sins. It is what his name means. His name is only important, however, because of his actions. He does through his suffering, death, and resurrection, in fact, save us from our sins. Again, Jesus’s actions speak louder than words. They change human history and our eternal destiny. We only remember his name because he actually did what it means. 

As we approach this Christmas season with all of its human interactions (warm, joyous, irritating, and conflictual), may our actions speak louder than our words. We are the beloved children of God, citizens of the kingdom of Heaven, and sisters and brothers of Jesus. As we celebrate the nativity of our savior, may our actions make Jesus manifest in our world.