It is hard to believe that Friday will be Christmas and that next Sunday will be our celebration of the Feast of the Holy Family. In our Gospel we have the three members of the Holy Family present: Mary, Joseph, and Jesus within the womb of His mother. I would therefore like to note Saint Joseph and the fact that Pope Francis has named this the Year of Saint Joseph. This Year of Saint Jospeh will stretch from December 8, 2020-December 8, 2021. I am hopeful that we will use this year that lies ahead to learn more about Saint Joseph, to foster devotion to Saint Joseph, and to emulate the many virtues of Saint Joseph.
This Gospel taken from Luke largely concerns itself with Mary and her yes to the Angel Gabriel. Through her yes given to God she bares within her womb God made Flesh. During this season of Advent we prepare for this same encounter with the Lord. The Gospel of Saint Matthew also accounts for the Annunciation by simply stating: “When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.”
Joseph was therefore left with a great surprise to find that his wife was with child. Saint Matthew’s Gospel goes onto state: “Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly.” This verse reveals a lot about Saint Joseph because we are told that “he was a righteous man.” A little later in this passage we are told, “When Jospeh awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him.”
Therefore we can say that Saint Joseph was righteous because he was obedient. Saint Joseph serves as a model to all of us because of his obedience to God in all things no matter how difficult. It is for this reason that he serves as a model man, a model husband, a model father, a model worker, and most importantly a model servant of God. In our world we can see the need to have a model for fathers, a model for men, a model for husbands, a model when it pertains to work, and a model when it comes to being found in service to God.
Saint Joseph was not just some guy who randomly wondered into the Nativity story. This can be seen from the flowering staff that Saint Joseph is often depicted as holding such as the statue that we have here in the church. To this sprouting staff the Book of Numbers states: “And the rod of the man whom I choose shall sprout.” Legend holds that this staff sprouted for Saint Joseph when he went to visit Mary who would be his wife in order to show that he had been chosen by God for this task.
Today’s O Antiphon instructs us: “O Key of David, opening the gates of God’s eternal Kingdom: come and free the prisoners of darkness!” From the Gospel of Saint Luke we are told that Joseph is of the line of David: “And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judaea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David.” Saint Joseph then was not a random figure, but was a righteous man who connected Christ to the royal lineage of King David.
As we continue this Year of Saint Jospeh it is my hope that we will be inspired to grow in our devotion to Saint Joseph. Through our devotion to this holy man may we receive the grace to unite the interior with the exterior life, receive the grace to grow in our imitation of love for Jesus and Mary, and may we receive the grace of a happy death.
Saint Joseph, pray for us.
No comments:
New comments are not allowed.