St. Joseph

06-17-2018Weekly ReflectionArchbishop Donald Wuerl

St. Joseph: A Quiet Man with Much to Say

Excerpted from the June 2002 issue of Columbia, the monthly magazine of the Knights of Columbus.

Father's Day, in the United States especially, has become a day to recognize the important place of dad. While the celebration itself may be focused on a Father's Day card, a gift, or a special meal, at its heart is the recognition that a father plays a singularly important role in the life of a family. Children need a father. Fathers have a God-given responsibility to their children.

Recognizing this, Pope John Paul II took action, holding up St. Joseph as a model of modern manhood. On August 15, 1989, he issued an apostolic exhortation on St. Joseph and the Catholic understanding of fatherhood – Redemptoris Custos (Guardian of the Redeemer: On the Person and Mission of St. Joseph in the Life of Christ and the Church ).

Just as we call Mary "Mother of the Church" because she is mother of Jesus who is head of the Church, so we look to St. Joseph, who was foster father of Jesus and his protector, as the "Patron of the Universal Church, Protector of the Church."

We can rejoice that St. Joseph through his marriage to Mary was caught up in the mystery of spiritual fatherhood and became a model of marriage, care of one's child, and an exemplar of the Holy Family. St. Joseph is a model to every believer and particularly for men in their role as father.

We are called to be actively engaged in our vocation, our calling from God, in a way that quietly but effectively spreads the faith and extends God's kingdom in every place and age.

St. Joseph: Partner with God

When the angel comes to him in a dream and says to him that he is to take Mary as his wife, Joseph never hesitates (Mt 1:24).When he has to set out with very little provision to Bethlehem where the child will be born, he does so unflinchingly and without complaint (Lk 2:4). And when God tells him to flee with the child for safety, his response is total and complete (Mt 2:1314).

Little is said of St. Joseph in the New Testament but what does come through is the "just man" of great faith.

Joseph's role in salvation history is linked by marriage to Mary. The pope tells us that this marriage is the "juridical basis of his fatherhood." While Joseph was not the natural father of Jesus, he was spouse of the Blessed Mother and therefore, in that capacity, he assumed responsibility for the child Jesus and for Jesus' mother.

The pope refers to "the service of fatherhood" and holds up Mary's marriage to Joseph and their relationship to each other as the starting point for our understanding of Joseph's relationship to Jesus. "The Son of Mary is also Joseph's Son by virtue of the marriage bond that unites them" (Redemptoris Custos 7).

St. Joseph: A Model for Making Marriage Work

Something as wondrous as a successful marriage and as beautiful as a functioning family does not happen on its own. A mother, a father, and children all need to work at making a family a success. Such effort is an expression of love.

After an annual Mass for those celebrating their golden jubilee of marriage, I sometimes ask people in the reception line what is the secret to their success. So often the response is "We work at it every day."

The picture of St. Joseph as spouse of Mary and foster father of Jesus includes the image of a gentle, loving man, wise enough to teach a child and caring enough to be present at the important moments to lead by example every day.

St. Joseph is clearly a patron for fathers and a model for our day. The child Jesus had what we would call today a "role model" in his life.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us that "parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children" (2223). The home should be a center for education in the virtues. It is also to be what is called the "domestic church." A Christian family constitutes a specific manifestation and realization of ecclesial communion. It is a sign and an image of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, just as the Church itself and every believer are to be a manifestation of the love of God within us and at work in the world around us.

St. Joseph: A "Just Man"

Chapter 3 of Redemptoris Custos is directed to Joseph as a "just man," a husband. Here, John Paul unfolds for us a picture of Joseph who is enveloped in love: love of God, love of his spouse, and love of the child committed to his care, Jesus.

While married life may bring with it enormous challenges that surface in daily life, it is love that makes it a blessing.

In wedding celebrations the readings from Scripture remind us that a marriage is a part of God's plan expressed in the Book of Genesis. The fulfillment of God's plan requires an enormous amount of effort on the part of both spouses. It is love that brings the effort to the fore every day — day in and day out.

Among the "hard sayings" of Jesus, "What God has joined together no human being must separate" (Mk 10:9), is a particularly challenging one for many people today. Statistics show that one of every two marriages in the United States ends in divorce. Perhaps what Jesus was saying to all of us is that it is impossible to sustain a loving, permanent relationship through all the difficulties of life without the firm commitment that, in spite of all of the trials and tribulations, the partnership will endure.

In a society that so lightly sets aside personal commitment, we should not be surprised that marriage is in a state of decline. The Catholic vision of love and marriage continues to offer sound direction and true guidance.

St. Joseph: Father to Jesus

While the birth of Jesus is entirely unique in all human history, the responsibilities of Joseph remained rooted in his marriage to Mary and his relationship therefore to Jesus. The Gospels clearly describe the responsibilities of Joseph toward Jesus.

In Redemptoris Custos the pope reminds us how these duties were discharged, beginning with the journey to Bethlehem and the protection and care of Mary at the birth of Jesus where Joseph was an eyewitness.

The pope goes on to note that Joseph discharged his first religious obligation as a father with his son's circumcision and the conferral of the name Jesus. The presentation of Jesus in the temple, the flight into Egypt and the finding of the child Jesus in the temple are all examples in Scripture of Joseph's care for and nurture of Jesus.

From one perspective, the most telling line in Scripture relative to Joseph's relationship to Jesus is found in Luke's Gospel: Mary and Joseph returned to Nazareth with Jesus where he grew "in wisdom and age and favor before God and man" (Lk 2:52). Here, one's imagination can depict the daily routine of the adolescent Jesus growing up and coming to know the faith and values of his family, his obligation to God, and his place in the affection of his parents.

It is sometimes difficult to realize that Jesus had to learn to speak, to read and to write. He had to be taught manners and how to relate to others. He had to learn his prayers. He had chores and obligations to help keep family life running smoothly.

In all of this we can envision the role of Joseph. At the same time Jesus was becoming more fully aware of his deepest inner identity and his mission as redeemer of the world.

St. Joseph: Family Man

Because Joseph was spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary he formed with her a family. As spouses come together to exchange vows publicly and have their marriage to each other witnessed, they become a family.

Marriage by its nature is indissoluble and intended to provide mutual support to the spouses. In a society where family life is collapsing and our social order is unraveling, the Church's teaching on the indissolubility of marriage and the obligation of parents to their children is a timely remedy.

In God's plan for our salvation the second person of the Blessed Trinity was to become one of us. To do that, Mary would bring forth her child. St. Joseph would be called by God to serve the person and mission of Jesus Christ "through the exercise of his
fatherhood" (8).

Thus we can rejoice that St. Joseph through his marriage to Mary was caught up in the mystery of spiritual fatherhood and became a model of marriage, care of one's child, and an exemplar of the Holy Family.

The family is essential because it is "the original cell of social life" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2207). It is the natural society in which a husband and wife come together in love and give themselves in mutual support. From that original cell the whole human community grows in an ever-widening set of relationships.

St. Joseph: Man of Action

The first chapter of Redemptoris Custos underscores Joseph's marriage to Mary. This is the foundation of his role in salvation history. Joseph, a son of David, was asked by God to take Mary as his wife. She was to bear a son, conceived by the Holy Spirit, whom he was to call Jesus (Mt 1:20-21).

John Paul II points out that the divine messenger "introduces Joseph to the mystery of Mary's motherhood" (3), but Joseph was to have a singular role in the unfolding of the mystery of our redemption. He would join Mary in being the "first guardian of this divine mystery" (5). Together with Mary, and in relation to her, he is intimately involved in this final stage of God's revelation that takes place in Christ.

To accept all of this Joseph, like Mary, had to be a person of faith. What strikes us when we look at the pages of Scripture and see the figure of Joseph — even if he is sketched somewhat faintly against all the other dominant figures — is his great faith.