Today the Church comes to celebrate the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Saint Josemaría Escrivá gave a few points concerning the importance of Saint Joseph: “There are many good reasons to honour Saint Joseph, and to learn from his life. He was a man of strong faith. He earned a living for his family — Jesus and Mary — with his own hard work... He guarded the purity of the Blessed Virgin, who was his Spouse. And he respected — he loved! — God’s freedom, when God made his choice: not only his choice of Our Lady the Virgin as his Mother, but also his choice of Saint Joseph as the Husband of Holy Mary.” (The Forge, 552)
From this quotation Saint Josemaría Escrivá leaves us with four important points for our reflection. These points sum up a foundation of true manliness as is expressed through Saint Joseph. Let us take a moment to delve further into these four points.
1) “He was a man of strong faith.”
-We should assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass each Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation.
-We should frequent the Sacrament of Confession.
-We should become educated on the precepts of our faith.
-We should foster a spirit of prayer within our life as well as within the household.
2) “He earned a living for his family.”
-We should sanctify ourself through our work.
-We should work tirelessly to provide for the wellbeing of our family.
3) “He guarded the purity of the Blessed Virgin.”
-We should foster the virtue of purity within our own life.
-We should take it upon ourselves to preserve the purity of those entrusted to our care especially one’s children and spouse.
-We live in the midst of an over sexualized culture, but we must remain on guard against these temptations of the flesh which corrupt the purpose of human sexuality.
4) “He respected God’s freedom.”
-We should become men of prayer who respond to the challenges of this life through prayer.
-We should silence our heart in order that we may come to hear God’s voice made manifest.
May we thus turn towards Saint Joseph, the most chaste spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and allow him to intercede on our behalf that we may become true men who pursue the excellence of virtue and pursue God above all things.
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