"I HAVE A DREAM!"
St JOSEPH.
"I have a dream!" This famous quote expressing the societal project from the North American pastor and activist Martin Luther King Jr is well known worldwide! Let's take the time to question: what power is hidden behind dreams, that have been guiding peoples and nations through the unknown, with so much passion and courage, through the ages?
Dreams can be considered a sequence of images, sounds and feelings that happen in our brainwaves faster than regular awake thoughts. Symbols, new ideas, fears, intuitions and even messages are said to happen while dreaming. Books, poetry and songs over the centuries celebrate the dreams. Those elements point there is a strong parallel between dreams and spirituality. Both connect us to a reality we do not know much about but they guide us in the deepest of our souls.
Let's take some time to think about this impressive man in the New Testament: Joseph, the carpenter, the father of Jesus. He was a great man who was requested twice to follow his dreams to accomplish a huge challenge. He needed to trust his discernment and also trust the Lord.
One dream told him to accept his fiancée's pregnancy, the other to flee to Egypt with his family to save their son. Two great challenges! No other information figures in the Holy Scriptures about him, so we can consider this as the essential we had to know about him: a brave dreamer man. He took charge of his family and stood up, guaranteeing their survival and stability.
That can mean something big about dreaming and discerning God's will and then taking action. The seed of the dream finds fertile soil on the spiritually mature heart, it sprouts, deepens its roots and brings fruit. Like an everlasting spiritual spring, it keeps barring fruit that feeds generations.
Even in a very technological time like ours, going from an idea to an action requires a lot of skills. A level of maturity is demanded of the dreamers to arrive at a point where they can follow their dreams and make them happen responsibly and concretely. This usually takes time, good internal resources, trust and also faith. So looking at what the Holy scriptures bring to us about Joseph, we can see a strong action-oriented man, most probably very mature and oriented towards goodness.
Joseph’s figure points us to great hope, even if everything was not yet accomplished in his lifetime. It points to the belief that all of humanity's greatest wants and dreams are met and fulfilled in the person of Christ Jesus.
This is the reason we are called to both dream and act. Christ’s incarnation, life, passion, death, and resurrection—which we will soon celebrate—and the hope of His Parusia are the deepest and most powerful affirmations of joy for humanity, they can encourage us to press on and co-create a brand-new world.