Happy Feast of St. Joseph! The Man!

Happy Feast of St. Joseph!  Every year, I grow in deeper understanding of how great St. Joseph was.  The man was chosen to be the “Most Chaste Spouse” of Mary the Mother of God AND God-made-man’s adoptive father.  What a role to fill!  I looked back at what I wrote about St. Joseph last year and thought it would be good to post here again.  Enjoy the feast day!

“…Eliud, the father of Eleazar.  Eleazar became the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary.  Of her was born Jesus who is called the Messiah.”

Matthew Chapter 1 “The Genealogy of Jesus”.

Today (March 19) is the Feast of St. Joseph.  St. Joseph was Jesus’ earthly foster father, the husband of Mary (Jesus’ mother) and a faithful Jewish man.  We don’t know much about St. Joseph from Sacred Scripture, but we can deduce many things about his character, his demeanor and his effect on the world.  For men, we should strive to be like St. Joseph – holy, upright, honest, hardworking and just.  He was also a faithful man, a man of prayer and he allowed the Lord to work through his life.  Can you imagine being selected by God to be the foster father of the Messiah?  Obviously, Mary was selected as special by God to be the God-bearer (theotokos), why would God not also select a special man to be her husband and the protector of the God-bearer?  He knew the role he was undertaking and accepted it whole-heartidly.  He never failed to set the example of manliness for his son, Jesus.  As we look to Christ to learn what He taught us, we must believe that He learned a great deal of what He knew from his earthly father, Joseph; therefore, telling us a great deal about Joseph.

As a father, I see characteristics in St. Joseph that I know I must possess.  His example of virtue is second to none.  In order to pass on faith, tradition and a legacy, I must first act out of love – setting the bar high for my children – so that my actions always precede my words and never contradict them.  St. Joseph, the model for men – father, husband, man of faith and prayer, worker, protector, servant to the Lord.  St. Joseph, pray for us.

Man up!