Word to the Wise
Wednesday, March 19, 2014 - March 19 - St. Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary
[2 Sam 7:4-5a, 12-14a, 16; Rom 4:13, 16-18, 22; Matt 1:16, 18-21, 24a or Luke 2:41-51a,614]Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ. [Matt.]
For a saint as popular as St. Joseph, we know remarkably little about him! What we do know, however, is very important. First, he was of the "house and family of David." The words quoted above come from the last lines of the genealogy in the Gospel of Matthew, which is designed to show Davidic ancestry. Jesus would then be the fulfillment of the prophecy in the Second Book of Samuel, which is in our first scripture today. Second, Joseph was a "righteous man," and compassionately received Mary as his wife despite the fact that she had become pregnant without his assistance! Third, he was a faithful man because he was open to the revelation that came to him in a dream (just like Joseph in Genesis)! Fourth, he was a pious man because we see him and Mary coming to the temple to present Jesus, their firstborn child. Fifth, he was a concerned parent as we see in the search for Jesus when he was "lost!" All of this is easily noted in the gospels of Matthew and Luke - the "infancy narratives.
We also know that Joseph was a carpenter of some kind in the village of Nazareth, and this created a problem for the people of that village in recognizing Jesus as the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah [Luke 4, Mark 6]. In this, Joseph suffered indirectly (if he was still alive that the time) in the rejection of Jesus by people who had known him a long time.
From these bits of information a great devotion developed. We celebrate his feast today in many different ways but we should not lose sight of the simpler facts of his compassion and devotion, which in Lent are a great model to learn from. AMEN