SAINT JOSEPH
Everything we know about the husband of Mary and the foster
father of Jesus comes from Scripture and that has seemed too little for those
who made up legends about him.
We know he was a
carpenter, a working man, for the skeptical Nazarenes ask about Jesus, "Is
this not the carpenter's son?" (Matthew 13:55). He wasn't rich for when he
took Jesus to the Temple to be circumcised and Mary to be purified he offered
the sacrifice of two turtledoves or a pair of pigeons, allowed only for those
who could not afford a lamb (Luke 2:24).
Despite his humble work
and means, Joseph came from a royal lineage. Luke and Matthew disagree some
about the details of Joseph's genealogy but they both mark his descent from
David, the greatest king of Israel (Matthew 1:1-16 and Luke 3:23-38). Indeed
the angel who first tells Joseph about Jesus greets him as "son of
David," a royal title used also for Jesus.
We know Joseph was a
compassionate, caring man. When he discovered Mary was pregnant after they had
been betrothed, he knew the child was not his but was as yet unaware that she
was carrying the Son of God. He planned to divorce Mary according to the law but
he was concerned for her suffering and safety. He knew that women accused of
adultery could be stoned to death, so he decided to divorce her quietly and not
expose her to shame or cruelty (Matthew 1:19-25).
We know Joseph was a man
of faith, obedient to whatever God asked of him without knowing the outcome.
When the angel came to Joseph in a dream and told him the truth about the child
Mary was carrying, Joseph immediately and without question or concern for
gossip, took Mary as his wife. When the angel came again to tell him that his
family was in danger, he immediately left everything he owned, all his family
and friends, and fled to a strange country with his young wife and the baby. He
waited in Egypt without question until the angel told him it was safe to go
back (Matthew 2:13-23).
We know Joseph loved
Jesus. His one concern was for the safety of this child entrusted to him. Not
only did he leave his home to protect Jesus, but upon his return settled in the
obscure town of Nazareth out of fear for his life. When Jesus stayed in the
Temple we are told Joseph (along with Mary) searched with great anxiety for
three days for him (Luke 2:48). We also know that Joseph treated Jesus as his
own son for over and over the people of Nazareth say of Jesus, "Is this
not the son of Joseph?" (Luke 4:22)
We know Joseph respected
God. He followed God's commands in handling the situation with Mary and going
to Jerusalem to have Jesus circumcised and Mary purified after Jesus' birth. We
are told that he took his family to Jerusalem every year for Passover,
something that could not have been easy for a working man.
Since Joseph does not
appear in Jesus' public life, at his death, or resurrection, many historians
believe Joseph probably had died before Jesus entered public ministry.
Joseph is the patron of
the dying because, assuming he died before Jesus' public life, he died with
Jesus and Mary close to him, the way we all would like to leave this earth.
Joseph is also patron of
the universal Church, fathers, carpenters, and social justice.
We celebrate two feast
days for Joseph: March 19 for Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church, and May 1
for Joseph the Worker.
There is much we wish we
could know about Joseph -- where and when he was born, how he spent his days, when
and how he died. But Scripture has left us with the most important knowledge:
who he was -- "a righteous man" (Matthew 1:18).
Saint Joseph, Patron of
the universal Church, watch over the Church as carefully as you watched over Jesus,
help protect it and guide it as you did with your adopted son. Amen