Solemnity of Saint Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Lectionary: 543

He believed, hoping against hope, that he would become the father of many nations, according to what was said, Thus shall your descendants be.

That is why it was credited to him as righteousness.

Just as we must spend forty days of Lent preparing for Holy Week and Easter, we should prepare for the Annunciation of the Lord, which is a happy anticipation of Christmas! And so we take a day during Lent to solemnly celebrate Saint Joseph the Husband of Mary. Propriety demands that this virgin be married before she becomes a mother, and even God will sometimes submit to the demands of propriety.

One of the greatest disappointments of human life -- it is almost scandalous -- is our dependence on other people. At least in the United States, where men (especially) cultivate self-reliance and rugged individuality we hate to admit we need others. We will be godlike in our resourceful, energetic independence.

But then God appears to us as an infant, fresh from a woman's womb, helpless, needy, crying. And immediately threatened by savage, merciless enemies.

So what happened to our "godlike" freedom? Saint Paul explained it with a song, "He did not deem equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied himself and took the form of a man...."

Saint Joseph shows us that an adult is not independent or self-reliant. An adult is dependable.

The "faith" that is "credited to him as righteousness" is his fidelity. As Saint James said, "Show me your faith without works." He might have said, "Show me your faith without fidelity!" A lot of people will insist upon their faith in God, but they don't show up where and when they're needed. Their faith is so much hot air.

Saint Matthew gave us what little we know about Saint Joseph. It's fascinating that this gentleman who plays such a critical role in the gospel is silent. He hears, he believes, he acts but he says nothing. 

The same gospel rails against hypocrisy, mentioning the sin or the sinner fifteen times. Saint Matthew also describes the epitome of hypocrisy, Herod the Great, who swore that he would go to Bethlehem to find the Child and "do him homage." Hearing that passage read each year should start tears in our eyes.

The silent saint "did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home." His silence forms a striking contrast with the loud, obnoxious Herod.

Joseph is reliably alert to the promptings of the Holy Spirit as he navigates a very difficult political world. He pays attention to politics as he listens to the wise men and their tale of Jerusalem, as he flees into Egypt, and as he returns to settle not in his home town of Bethlehem but in Mary's Nazareth. We can imagine he wanted to go back to his own people but the Spirit and his native sense overruled his nostalgia for home.

Finally, this solemn feast anticipating both the Annunciation and Christmas, reminds us of the Catholic tradition of patronage. Yes, we need the saints, their example and their friendship. To say, "I rely on God alone and not the saints" is not far removed from "I am a rock; I need no one." Saint Joseph is a most wonderful patron of the Church Universal. We should ask him to bless us with his adult, responsible spirit during this critical hour when leading men have failed the church.