Joseph retreats to Egypt to preserve Jesus and Mary, his "treasures". In the current uncertainties, a similar "retreat" should be proposed to the individual Christian and to the whole Church 

of Msgr. Silvano Macchi

UThe third picture of the "Gospel of the Origins", from which we take the third of the mysteries of Joseph's life, is the page in which Matthew recounts the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem and the visit of the Magi (Mt 2, 1-12). Joseph does not appear in it, nor does the text make any reference to him. In fact, we read that when the Magi arrived, «they entered the house, saw the Child with Mary, his mother, and fell prostrate and adored him. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh" (Mt 2:11). But we return to talking about Joseph immediately after the visit of the Magi, in reference to his escape, or rather his "retreat" to Egypt (Mt 2, 13-18).

The first thing you notice in this passage, following the departure of the Magi and in which the dream theme reappears, is the use of three verbs: resurrect/get up (twice); take with you/take care of (twice); retreat/flee (once). This last verb, from which the term "anchorite" derives, designates not only an "exit from the scene", but also a hasty movement, almost of escape (for Giuseppe it was a real clandestine emigration, in order to avoid the fury murderer of Herod), and once again a precise identikit emerges. Joseph is the one who dreams, gets up, obeys, takes care of Mary and the Child responsibly and retreats. After the angel's revelation, he must in fact get up, take the Child and his mother with him, flee to Egypt and stay here until further notice (the apocrypha speak of a stay that lasts, depending on the case, from at eight years old).

Of course, the passage in question is very complex. The entire literary genre of these first chapters of Matthew presents not so much a chronicle of facts, perhaps historically problematic according to some scholars, but is identified with a midrash, that is, with a rereading of the present in the memory of the past. In fact, the reader is referred to the history of Israel, in which Egypt represented the place of "retreat" for those who were persecuted, starting with the patriarch Joseph and his brothers, up to the story of Moses and the slavery under Pharaoh. In short, we intend to insinuate that what happened in the ancient history of the people of God is repeated and accomplished now, in the journey of Jesus of Nazareth; or, to use another word, the Jesus of the "stories of the origins" is actually Christ in his paschal fullness, starting from his birth.

Here too there is a murderer, a persecutor. He is the cruel Herod, the enemy of God, whose murderous antagonism is in perfect dialectic with the positive welcome of Joseph (and with the "great joy" attributed to the Magi when they saw the star again). Joseph is the friend of God, who offers his cooperation in the divine plan and therefore his obedience. From this point of view, even in this passage, he is a deli figureborn by the evangelist with constant, regular, predictable features (Anglo-Saxon biblical scholars speak of flat character, i.e. of a “flat”, constant character). On every occasion, Joseph proves himself to be the perfect obedient, the type of very clear adherence to God, where God speaks (commands) and man (almost without saying a word) obeys.

But precisely here it is appropriate to bear in mind that Pope Francis has added seven new invocations to the Litany in honor of Saint Joseph, approved by Saint Pius X in 1909; among these: «Patron saint of exiles» (Patron exsulum). It is in reference to our biblical passage that we readtakes the extension of the patronage of Saint Joseph to exiles, to refugees. Such were actually Saint Joseph and the entire Holy Family: exiled due to adverse circumstances, as happens today to many men, forced to emigrate to distant countries, going through a thousand difficulties, with the real risk of dying and in to which Pope Francis and the whole Church are very sensitive. The escape (the "retreat") to Egypt is therefore first of all an image of the persecuted and refugees of all times.

However, with respect to this, so to speak, "humanistic" approach to the flight into Egypt, I also propose another reading, to be done by the Church and by each individual believer, which seems to me more in line with the text.

I am referring to Joseph's "retreat" to Egypt with Mary and the Child, without attributing characteristics of hostility to it. The "retreat" to be proposed to the Church could (or perhaps even "should") have similar characteristics. In the past, an attitude prevailed in the Church which limited itself to offering "teachings", to which precepts and impositions were added. This attitude was followed by today's so-called "updating". But what is missing in this passage from the past to the present seems precisely the intermediate moment of "withdrawal". It seems to me that the "retreat" in our time should be of this kind, which is open to individual Catholics, but also to the Church as a whole.

Pope Francis loves to talk about an "outgoing" Church. I would also speak - not in an alternative way - of a Church which, imitating Saint Joseph as its universal Patron, is also in "retreat". Let's be clear: not in "escape" from the world, but in "withdrawal" from the world, "outside" the world, against the current, foreign and pilgrim in this world ("In the world but not of the world", Jesus will say to the disciples in the Gospel of John), to seek God and at the same time take care of Mary and the Child: that is, of all that is most precious in life, of the only priceless thing.