Solemnity of Saint Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Lectionary: 543

When your time comes and you rest with your ancestors,
I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins,
and I will make his kingdom firm.
It is he who shall build a house for my name.
And I will make his royal throne firm forever.
I will be a father to him,
and he shall be a son to me.

 S aint Joseph, the spouse of Mary, played a critical role in Salvation History in order for the prophecies to be fulfilled. Jesus should be born of the House of David. To be the Mother of God, Mary's Immaculate Conception and perpetual virginity also required that she should wed a descendant of David.

But I am sure there are some persnickety people who might cavil that, because Mary was a virgin as two Evangelists insist, Jesus was not technically a direct descendant of David. Joseph was the "foster father" or adopted father of Jesus. They might be the same persons who distance themselves from Jews, and deny their own adoption into the family of Abraham.  

As Saint Paul struggled with his disappointment that all Jews did not embrace the saving passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus, he had to admit that his beloved gentiles had no claim on the salvation which which had been promised to Jews. But God had promised Abraham, 

"I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the families of the earth will find blessing in you." (Gen 12:2-3)

and Jesus had confirmed, "...salvation is from the Jews." (John 4:22)

Clearly, as Saint Paul and his fellow Apostles saw, gentiles were being gathered to the Lord by the Holy Spirit. Some of them were praying in tongues like the Twelve on that Pentecost in Jerusalem; they were evangelizing, healing, and raising the dead to life. There was no doubt about their salvation. Gentiles were being adopted into the Body of Christ by Baptism and Eucharist! If no one had expected it, it was happening anyway. 

The superabundant, overflowing grace of God cannot be constrained by human expectations. It often goes where the jealous, scrupulous, and persnickety dare not. As Saint Mark tells the story, the Lord's disciples thought they had a claim on him and the power of his Holy Name: 

John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.”

Jesus replied, “Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us. Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward. (Mark 9:38-41)

So we can hardly be surprised to find that unexpected mystery of adoption as Jesus comes before us. He was certainly of the House of David, and adoption was just as common in the ancient world as it is today. We remember Moses being adopted into the royal household by Pharaoh's daughter, and Esther was raised by her uncle Mordecai. To get ahead in the Roman empire, skilled artists and engineers sought adoption by wealthy patrons. They sometimes displaced the legitimate sons of the wealthy! Natural generation, as many parents can attest, doesn't always prove itself in a child's abilities, talents, interests, or behavior.  

As we celebrate Joseph, the just man who proved himself worthy to be the Spouse of Mary and the Foster Father of Jesus, we thank God that he has adopted us into the family of Abraham and the house of David. And, especially during Lent, we embrace the tragic fate of the Jews as our own. If they should disappear from the earth, Christianity would lose its foundation in the promises to Abraham and David, and our baptism would be worthless.