Terror of Demons: Silence

"When they had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.” Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt." ~ (Matthew 2:13-14)

Case in point: being a fugitive for the crime of being born and becoming a human baby is a reality. Both now at present and then at the time of St. Joseph.

Now in our world today all unborn babies are considered criminals whenever their mother or father or the society or the government say: "We don't want them." Being branded as "Unwanted" immediately turns them into criminals to be persecuted and executed by abortion.

Imagine that again. Being an unborn baby is being a criminal, a fugitive! Is that real? Stop imagining. It is the reality of our world today.

Then what about the time of Joseph? The same is true for Jesus before and after He was born. Someone wanted not only to kill Him but to destroy Him. Now imagine. What does it mean to want to destroy Jesus? It means to destroy life: the life of God and God Himself.

Who would do that? Who would always want to "rob life, kill life and destroy life" but Satan? The Good Shepherd said: "The thief only comes to steal and slaughter and destroy; I come so that they may have life and have it more abundantly" (John 10:10).

What we are dealing with then and now is the same enemy of life, the enemy of our own life: the Devil himself with his minions.

Who was his minion during Christmas time, the time of Jesus' Birth? Who is it that said to the Magi: "Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage.” (Matthew 2:8)? No one else but Herod the great. His intent "to do homage" to the Holy Baby Jesus is "to do Him in." But who was behind his raging desire to kill if it were not the "father of lies" - the murderous Satan. The Lord later said to those who wanted to kill Him: "But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth.... You belong to your father, the devil and you willingly carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks in character, because he is a liar and the father of lies." (John 8:40,44).

What we are looking at here is the reality of the Devil, the one who terrorizes our life and the life of God. But there is Good  News! The Lord has appointed Joseph and granted him the power and authority as "the Terror of demons." He is here to protect us from the assault of the Devil. His presence terrifies demons.

How so? How does Joseph, an ordinary man terrorizes and terrifies the demons? In twelve ways:

(1) His name: JOSEPH - יסף in Hebrew means literally "YHWH increases" or "God adds." That means if you bring St. Joseph into your life and consecrate yourself to him, God will increase the good in you. For Joseph means "God adds" but he himself will "add God" to your life. That terrifies the Devil.

(2) His Silence: Joseph was a man of silence. Sacred Silence is the language of God. In silence all things grows. Silence nurtures life.

The Devil hates life and silence. It's noisy. It numbs people's senses and intimidates them with loud noises. This is why St. Joseph terrorizes the demons. His conscious sacred silence makes them squirmed. They flounder at this silence.

Living in the Sacred Silence of St. Joseph, we listen and wait for God and discover that God has been waiting for us all along.

In a word, silence means waiting for God and God for us.

(3) His Prayer: St. Joseph terrifies the Demons because of his power of prayer.

What actually occurs at prayer? Four things: (1) We entrust ourselves to God; and (2) God to us; (3) We remember God and (4) come to realize that God always remembers us.

A person who always lives in reliance and remembrance of the Lord terrifies the demons. That was Joseph; so should we be.

(4) His Sleep: whenever St. Joseph falls asleep, the demons are terrified. Why? Whenever he enters into deep sleep, he always falls into the heavenly realm. Heaven?!

Remember when St. Joseph dreams, according to the reports of the Sacred Scriptures he sees angel and hears messages from God. Imagine that. Isn't that the heavenly realm? His dreams are holy and pure. The Devil fears that and feels frightened when Joseph wakes up. Once awaken he always carries out the will of the Lord and foils the Devil's plan. This is why his sleep terrorizes the demons.

What do Joseph do in his sleep? He hears God and God hears him.

Let's pray to St. Joseph to have the same kind of heavenly dream in our sleep.

(5) His Purity: Jesus declares in the Beatitudes, the Charter of the Kingdom of God: "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8).

Imagine Moses talking to God on Mount Sinai when he came down, the skin of his face shined so brightly that the Israelites could not look at his face; they were terrified (Exodus 34:29- 30). He had to cover his face in speaking with them. Now Joseph needs not go to the mountain top to speak to God, but the Lord of Moses came down into his dream and dwelled in him. It was not the skin of his face that shines, but rather the look from his soul illumines. The Shekinah - the Glory of the Lord resides in him. Those living near him were not frightened by him, but the demons were terrified at his sight. And his look! 

His Son, Jesus, later confirms this reality: "The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father" ~ (Matthew 13:43). Who was the righteous, the Tzaddik, but Joseph? Who outshined the sun, but Joseph? Who already lived in the Kingdom of God, but Joseph, for the King of Heaven resided with him and in his own home. This is why in the Litany to St. Joseph, he is called "the Light of the Patriarchs," including Moses! This is also why the demons were so scared of him.

What happens when we are pure like St. Joseph? You see God and see that God sees you.

(6) His Humility: The Devil is prideful. It lies. It boasts. It shows off. Those are symptoms of pride.

St. Joseph is the complete opposite. He is the antithesis of the Devil. He is humble because he knows himself. He knows himself because he examines himself and his conscience with Ruler of Truth: first, that what he is was created out of nothing; and that who he is comes from his relation with God.

God loves the humble because they love the truth. In turn the humble loves God because He is the Truth.

Joseph lives in the truth and with the truth and loves the Truth. The Devil hates it but is terrified at the truth which could only be born, raised and nurtured in humility.

(7) His Obedience: the Devil disobeys God. He is in hell. Joseph submits himself to the Lord. So the Lord comes into his life and submits Himself to him. His home becomes heaven. His life, a paradise for the Lord.

Through his absolute obedience to the will of God, Joseph became the source of terror to the Devil.

Suppose we do the same.

(8) His Charity: Charity is not mere love. The Devil loves but only himself. It has no charity. It is selfish; it sacrifices nothing, but other beings. It is filled with hatred and resentment. It embodies hell!

St. Joseph loves God. He sacrifices his life to serve the Lord and our Lady. He shows them charity and the Lord loves him and chooses him to be His father. Heaven embodies him.

At the sight of Joseph, the Devil trembles for the Lord "Who is Charity" - "Deus caritas est" is with him.

(9) His Poverty: Joseph was poor because he gave his all to Jesus and His Mother. He gave himself to the Lord and in return the Lord gave His all to Joseph.

The Devil only takes. Joseph only gives. The Devil couldn't take anything from Joseph because all that he is and owns, lies in the hand of God. His poverty intimidates and conquers the Devil.

(10) His Patience: Patience implies pain and endurance. Endurance entails waiting. But without charity that longsuffering or painful waiting endurance would turn into hell.

The virtue of patience is charity enduring the evil. "Charitas patiens est, benigna est" - "Charity is patient, is kind." (1 Corinthians 13:4).

The Devil suffers but it has no patience for it refuses to love. By definition, loveless suffering is hell. This is why the Devil is in hell.

Without true love, that is, charity, no one could embrace God, the Lord of Heaven. Joseph was a man full of charity; he waited for the Lord and endured the pain of being misunderstood in charity. The Lord of Charity embraced him and allowed him to carry and care for Him.

When we learn to be patient like Joseph, we too will carry the Lord and the Lord, us.

Imagine that. What would happen when the Devil sees you holding the Lord Jesus on your arms and carrying Him in your heart with patience? You would scare him into hell!

(11) His Paternity, or Fatherhood: Being a father is the final and ultimate fulfillment of being a man. The Lord first created Adam, the man, but he was incomplete. God sees that it is not good for a man to be alone, so He created Eve to be his wife, his helpmate to complete him. Adam gets to grow up because of her. They both grow fully and fulfill their manhood and womanhood when they became the first father and mother of humankind.

The ultimate realization of manliness is when a man becomes a father.

What does it take to be a father? What is his mission and role in life if not to take care of his wife and children by giving his life to protect and provide for them. It boils down to one word: service.

That is the mission of Jesus: "Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Mathew 20:28). The Lord comes to serve and lay down His life for us. Who served Him first and laid down his life for Him and His Mother but Joseph?

The Devil intimidates and enslaves us; it refuses to serve: "Non serviam! - I will not serve!" This is why it is in the eternal fire

of hell.

At the sight of Joseph fostering Jesus and serving the Lord as His father, the Devil shudders. Due to his service, Jesus now serves him as a Son in heaven. The Devil refused to serve God but now seeing God serving a man whom the Lord Jesus calls "Abba!" That turns him upside down. It enrages and terrifies him.

(12) His Ruler: Loving and serving the truth is the act of worship. The Lord Jesus said: "God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.” (John 4:23). That is Joseph's ruler: the Truth.

There is another sense for "ruler" which is the instrument for measuring distance and size. St. Joseph made a living and lived by his carpenter ruler. Anything and anyone he saw would be under the scrutiny and measurement of his ruler, including himself. He needed to measure all circumstances and persons in order to know and protect his family. This is what a true man does. And This is also why after returning from Egypt, he decided to move Mary and Jesus to Nazareth far away from Herod in Jerusalem, away from danger.

Back to the ruler: One cannot build unless there is a measured plan first. Also one cannot know whether the building is stable and strong until it is tested. One has to be practical.

Imagine that. A ruler makes us honest. It brings us back to reality. It tells us our own success and failures. It gives us limits. With his ruler, Joseph would measure even the works of the Devil and his demons. To be measured is to be under the control of another. The Devil and his minions are the enemy of the Lord and they are frightened at Joseph's ruler. His ruler is none other than the Lord Himself in both sense of the word.

The Book of Genesis recounts that after Pharaoh made Joseph, the "Ruler" of Egypt at his right hand, second only to him "...wherever Joseph went, the command was shouted, " -אַבְרֵך Kneel down!" - (Genesis 41:43). That is Joseph, the Patriarch of the Old Testament. But for St. Joseph all the Patriarchs kneel down before him. At his sight, the Devil and his minions bow their knees out of fear. He rules over them.

What does that mean to you?

Your reflection.

Stop! Stay still for six seconds. Take a deep breath... say slowly:

JE-SUS....

The Saints on St. Joseph

Whereas Adam and Eve were the source of evil which was unleashed on the world, Joseph and Mary are the summit from which holiness spreads all over the earth.” ~ Pope St. John

Paul II

“Since we all must die, we should cherish a special devotion to St. Joseph that he may obtain for us a happy death.” … “Saint Joseph is most powerful against the demons which fight against us at the end of our lives.” ~ St. Alphonsus Liguori

Our Father...

St. Joseph: Terror of Demons.

Teach us to love, live and learn in silence. (3X)