Today the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Joseph. In our first reading from 2 Samuel, God says that his Son would spring from the line of David. “I will make his royal throne firm forever.” Joseph, though not Jesus’ biological father, was from the line of David. There are two options for a Gospel reading today, Matthew 1 and Luke 2. In Matthew 1, we read that Joseph was a righteous man, and that God spoke to him through an angel in a dream. And in Luke 2, we read about Joseph and Mary finding Jesus in the temple.
Did you know that not a word of Joseph’s is recorded in the Scriptures? But, many of Joseph’s actions are recorded. I think that this speaks volumes about the person of Joseph. He was certainly a devout and humble man that always did whatever God asked of him. And how special must he have been? After all, he was the one chosen from all time to care for the Messiah and his mother. He was the one who taught Jesus how to behave; taught him a trade and gave him a work ethic. He was the one tasked with protecting the child Jesus and Mary from people and forces that would come against them. He was the one who showed them what holy, masculine love truly was.
As a father, Joseph is especially precious to me. We fathers must work to pattern our fatherhood after blessed St. Joseph, who was surely the most perfect of earthly fathers. He let his actions speak for him. He always did God’s will, no matter how difficult, no matter what other people may have thought. He took a young virgin as his wife, spirited her and the child off to Egypt, then back to Nazareth to make a home for them, all the while dedicating his whole life to God. Dads, are we following the example of St. Joseph? Ask today for his intercession that we might be fathers more like him.
Father, we thank you for the gift and example of St. Joseph. We pray especially for fathers today. Help us to imitate the man that you chose to help raise your Son. Blessed St. Joseph, pray for us. Amen.
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