Dear brothers, who was Saint Joseph, Mary’s spouse?
Saint Joseph, the underestimated, the unrecognized: the Gospels are so discreet
about him!
Saint Joseph is “the new Abraham” called by God, receiving from the angel the first
announcement of Salvation.
The Gospels, though very discreet about him, attribute a major role to Saint
Joseph.
Presented as a righteous carpenter by trade, he assured Jesus of royal descent,
from the house of David, by agreeing to take Mary with him and make her his wife.
A Just Man
The first definition of Saint Joseph we find in Matthew’s Gospel is “just”.
Mary’s fiancée, faced with his fiancée’s inexplicable pregnancy, is not thinking of his
own pride or wounded dignity: on the contrary, he is thinking of saving her from the
wickedness of the people, of saving her from the stoning to which she could be
condemned. He doesn’t want to repudiate her publicly, and thinks of parting with
her in secret.
Joseph never thought that Mary had become pregnant through infidelity. On the
contrary, he knew that something extraordinary was happening that was beyond
him. That is why he wanted to step aside and let God do his work.
In this incomprehensible situation, in this suffering (since he must separate from
his fiancée), God’s love manages to relieve him; an angel comes to speak to him,
and inspires him to make the right choice, which is always not to be afraid:
“Do not be afraid to take Mary, your wife, with you, for what is begotten in her comes
from the Holy Spirit. She will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.”
An Obedient Man
An angel accompanies St Joseph through the most difficult moments of his life, and
St Joseph’s attitude to the words of the heavenly messenger is always one of
confident obedience: take Mary as your wife. When the angel returns after the birth
of Jesus to warn him of Herod’s persecution, he flees with his family to Egypt, a
foreign land, where he has to start all over again, finding a new job to win back the
trust of his neighbors.
(Saint Matthew, in chapter 13, also speaks of his trade as a craftsman, when the
skeptical inhabitants of Nazareth ask: “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?”).
And when the angel returns again to inform him of Herod’s death and ask him to
return to the land of Israel, he takes his wife and son with him and flees to
Nazareth in Galilee, again on the angel’s advice.
Putative Father
There is no doubt that St. Joseph loved Jesus with all the tenderness a father has
for his own son: everything St. Joseph did was to protect and educate this
mysterious, obedient and wise child entrusted to his care. Educating Jesus: the
immense disproportion of the task of telling God what is right and what is wrong.
Then it must have been humanly difficult and intimately painful to have anxiously
searched for one’s child for three days. Three days during which, without having
warned either his father or his mother, Jesus had remained in the temple to
discuss with the doctors of the law, before saying to his parents:
“Did not you know that I have to take care of my Father’s business ?”.
Saint Joseph is the protector of the Holy Family, of the Church of Jesus and of our
families. At the dawn of new times, God has entrusted him with guarding the
mysteries of salvation. Saint Joseph is the prototype of the believer like Abraham:
“Get up, take the child and his mother, leave…”.
And Saint Joseph got up, walked from Galilee to Judea, as far as Egypt, returning
to Nazareth.
Protector of the dying
Joseph does not appear in any of the four Gospels during Jesus’ public life, neither
at Calvary nor at the time of the Resurrection. This suggests that he died before
Jesus began preaching.
According to tradition, Joseph died with Mary and Jesus by his side, which is why
he is also invoked as the protector of the dying, and why we pray to him so that we
can leave this earth with Jesus and his Mother by our side.
Saint Joseph is the Man of silence
Saint Joseph is the man of silence. Not a word of his in the Gospels. And yet, he
“speaks” to the greatest number of people. A spiritual figure who is sometimes
forgotten, Saint Joseph is the “righteous man” spoken of in the Gospels, from whom
we can find courage and comfort.
Pope Francis invites us to discover of Saint Joseph, in virtue of his humility,
discretion, trust, which make him a fraternal support, a paternal recourse, a
spiritual support :
“We can all find in Saint Joseph the man who goes unnoticed, the man of the daily,
discreet and hidden presence, an intercessor, a support and a guide in times of
difficulty. St. Joseph reminds us that all those who are apparently hidden or in the
‘second line’ play an unparalleled role in the history of salvation.”
What is said of Mary also applies to St. Joseph, when the Gospel reports that Mary
“held all these events and pondered them in her heart” (Lk 2:19).
Saint Joseph, a model of interior life
Saint Joseph, a father who helps us through troubled times.
With the apostolic letter Patris corde (“with a father’s heart”), the Pope has placed
the year 2021 under the patronage of Saint Joseph. A model of gentleness and
discretion, protective and benevolent, Saint Joseph can be a help and guide in
difficult times.
God the Father entrusted his most precious possession on earth, his son Jesus and
the Virgin Mary, to Saint Joseph. So, with confidence, let us entrust all our prayers
to him.
So let us say together:
“St. Joseph, given as father to the Son of God, pray for us in our cares for family,
health and work, until our last days, and deign to help us at the hour of our death.
Amen”
Signed: Sir Kt. Bro. Richard Ayih-Akakpo
(Supreme Knight)
Dated: 19th March, 2024
PRAYER FOR MEN
Lord Jesus Christ, son of the Living God.
The Father sent You to men of all generations
so that we may answer His call to be holy
men of the Church.
Merciful Lord, be our strength as we take up
our crosses each day to follow you.
Inspire us to action in your Church so that our lives
may become a living Gospel bringing joy
and hope to the world.
Be present in our marriages and let the example
of Mary and Joseph guide us in fulfilling our
marital and parental responsibilities.
Encourage those who have consecrated themselves
to Your Kingdom and strengthen their resolve to
remain faithful to their vocations.
Bless all our actions this day that they may bring
honor and glory to God Our Father.
Amen