“Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.” (Matthew 1:16)
Reflections on the readings for the Solemnity of St. Joseph (March 19, 2022): 2 SM 7:4-5,12-14,16; PS 89:2-3,4-5,27,29; ROM 4:13,16-18,22; MT 1:16,18-21,24
MISSIO offers “Preaching Mission,” as a homily help, providing connections to mission from the readings of Sundays, Feast Days and Holy Days.
The Bible records not a single world said by Joseph. Yet everything we do know about him reveals why the Eternal Father chose him to protect, raise, and cherish His own Beloved Son.
Like all the descendants of Abraham over hundreds and hundreds of years, St. Joseph was brought up knowing that God would send a Messiah for the Jewish people. He had surely listened to the various Scripture references and prophecies announcing that the Anointed One would come from the line of King David. Joseph certainly must have heard: “I have made a covenant with My chosen one, I have sworn to David My servant: Forever will I confirm your posterity and establish your throne for all generations. …He shall say of Me, ‘You are My Father, My God, the Rock, My Savior.’ Forever I will maintain My kindness toward Him, and My covenant with Him stands firm” (Psalm 89:4-5,27,29). And just as surely, Joseph, a poor carpenter betrothed to the young and equally humble and obscure Mary, could not have imagined that he had been selected by Almighty God to fulfill a central role in the Divine plan for salvation.
The Bible records not a single world said by Joseph. Yet everything we do know about him reveals why the Eternal Father chose him to protect, raise, and cherish His own Beloved Son. The fidelity of Joseph to God’s law was matched by his selfless obedience to His will. When he learned about Mary’s pregnancy, Joseph knew that he had to do what his religion commanded. We hear St. Joseph called righteous and just, but he was merciful as well. Even though he knew that he was not the father of her child he wanted to spare His dear Mary as much pain as possible by divorcing her quietly. Only when the angel of God appeared to him in a dream did he understand the truth and all that was expected of him. He would be the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and so the legal father of her Son Jesus who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph woke up and did all that God had asked. He gave up his own plans to pursue God’s. He took His wife to Bethlehem, then, with the Holy Infant, to Egypt, and finally to Nazareth. There Joseph and Mary raised Jesus who became known as the carpenter’s son. Sometime before Christ began His mission, St. Joseph died in the company of Jesus and Mary. It is most appropriate that he is patron of the dying, fathers, families -- and of the universal Church of our Lord and Savior.
