SAINT JOSEPH
The
Bible pays Joseph the highest compliment: he was a “just” man. The quality
meant a lot more than faithfulness in paying debts.
When
the Bible speaks of God “justifying” someone, it means that God, the all-holy
or “righteous” One, so transforms a person that the individual shares somehow
in God’s own holiness, and hence it is really “right” for God to love him or
her. In other words, God is not playing games, acting as if we were lovable
when we are not.
By
saying Joseph was “just,” the Bible means that he was one who was completely
open to all that God wanted to do for him. He became holy by opening himself
totally to God.
The
rest we can easily surmise. Think of the kind of love with which he wooed and
won Mary, and the depth of the love they shared during their marriage.
It
is no contradiction of Joseph’s manly holiness that he decided to divorce Mary
when she was found to be with child. The important words of the Bible are that
he planned to do this “quietly” because he was “a righteous man, yet unwilling
to expose her to shame” (Matthew 1:19).
The
just man was simply, joyfully, wholeheartedly obedient to God—in marrying Mary,
in naming Jesus, in shepherding the precious pair to Egypt, in bringing them to
Nazareth, in the undetermined number of years of quiet faith and courage.
COMMENT:
The Bible tells us nothing of Joseph in the years after the return to Nazareth except the incident of finding Jesus in the Temple (see Luke 2:41–51). Perhaps this can be taken to mean that God wants us to realize that the holiest family was like every other family, that the circumstances of life for the holiest family were like those of every family, so that when Jesus’ mysterious nature began to appear, people couldn’t believe that he came from such humble beginnings: “Is he not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother named Mary...?” (Matthew 13:55a). It was almost as indignant as “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (John 1:46b).
The Bible tells us nothing of Joseph in the years after the return to Nazareth except the incident of finding Jesus in the Temple (see Luke 2:41–51). Perhaps this can be taken to mean that God wants us to realize that the holiest family was like every other family, that the circumstances of life for the holiest family were like those of every family, so that when Jesus’ mysterious nature began to appear, people couldn’t believe that he came from such humble beginnings: “Is he not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother named Mary...?” (Matthew 13:55a). It was almost as indignant as “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (John 1:46b).
QUOTE:
“He was chosen by the eternal Father as the trustworthy guardian and protector of his greatest treasures, namely, his divine Son and Mary, Joseph’s wife. He carried out this vocation with complete fidelity until at last God called him, saying: ‘Good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord’” (St. Bernardine of Siena).
“He was chosen by the eternal Father as the trustworthy guardian and protector of his greatest treasures, namely, his divine Son and Mary, Joseph’s wife. He carried out this vocation with complete fidelity until at last God called him, saying: ‘Good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord’” (St. Bernardine of Siena).
PATRON
SAINT OF:
Belgium, Canada, Carpenters, China, Church, Death, Fathers, Happy Death, Peru, Russia, Social justice, Travelers, Universal Church, Vietnam, Workers
Belgium, Canada, Carpenters, China, Church, Death, Fathers, Happy Death, Peru, Russia, Social justice, Travelers, Universal Church, Vietnam, Workers
PRAYER TO SAINT JOSEPH
O
St. Joseph whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the Throne
of God, I place in you all my interests and desires. O St. Joseph do assist me
by your powerful intercession and obtain for me from your Divine Son all
spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, Our Lord; so that having engaged here
below your Heavenly power I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most
loving of Fathers. O St. Joseph, I never weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep
in your arms. I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart. Press Him
in my name and kiss His fine Head for me, and ask Him to return the kiss when I
draw my dying breath. St. Joseph, Patron of departing souls, pray for us. Amen.
O
Blessed St. Joseph, faithful guardian and protector of virgins, to whom God
entrusted Jesus and Mary, I implore you by the love which did bear them, to
preserve me from every defilement of soul and body that I may always serve them
in holiness and purity of love. Amen.
O
St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus Christ and true spouse of the Virgin Mary
pray for us and for those who will die this day (or night).
This prayer is a very old and beautiful invocation to St.
Joseph. It is said to have been found in the fiftieth year of Our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. In 1505 it was sent from the Pope to Emperor Charles when
he was going into battle. St. Joseph was invoked for protection against a
sudden death, drowning, poisoning; for protection against falling into the
hands of the enemy, being burned in a fire or overpowered in battle. This
prayer can be said for nine days as a novena prayer.
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