March 19th - St. Joseph Spouse of Mary (Solemnity)

 

 Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of St. Joseph, husband of Mary, and patron of the Universal Church. As the spouse of Mary, St. Joseph was righteous, a man of humility, trusted in God’s providence, was obedient, and model of prayer.

St. Matthew said Joseph was “a righteous man”. To be righteous means to be holy, faithful and virtuous. St. Joseph was holy because He lived with Mary, who never sinned and because He was the foster father of the Son of God. All his life, he was faithful to his vocation as husband and a father. He excelled in virtue learning from the master Himself how to be virtuous.

Joseph had great humility. What a joy it must have been to have the perfect wife, and the perfect Child, neither of whom suffered from original sin, unlike himself. He must have been humbled to live in a home he was the only person, who was a sinner, yet he was the second greatest saint after the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was because of his humility, he feared to take Mary as his wife. Knowing the Child was not of him, and feeling unworthy, he had decided to quietly divorce Mary, until the angel appeared to him. St. Joseph obediently gave his yes, when he learned that the Child to be born was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Joseph grew in humility because of his great sufferings. And it was through his sufferings, he learned to trust in God’s providence. He suffered great sorrow, because he was unable to provide a worthy place for the Child to be born. He keenly understood his responsibility in protecting the Child, as an angel once again appeared to him in a dream, and warned him, that Herod wanted to kill the baby Jesus. He had to take the family in the middle of the night, to a foreign land, in which he had to provide food and shelter in while in Egypt. Yet he trusted.

When Jesus remained in the temple for three days, Joseph suffered from not knowing where Jesus was or what had happened to Him. And so, he must have feared that he failed in his responsibilities to protect the Divine Child.

As a man of prayer, Joseph held in his arms and lived with the Son of God. Day after day, Joseph adored Jesus in an exemplary manner. He was one who constantly adored the Son of God, which he did every day after the Child was born, until his time came for him to go to his home in heaven. As a man of prayer and adoration, we can allow Joseph, to teach us to adore Jesus in the Eucharist and ask him to help us to pray.

So, if want to be holy and righteous, pray to Joseph. If struggle with obedience, pray to Joseph. If we desire to grow in trust of God, and abandon our self to God, pray to Joseph. If we need help to endure sufferings, pray to Joseph. If we desire to grow in humility, pray to Joseph. And if we desire to adore Jesus in the Eucharist, with a heart full of faith and love, pray to Joseph, for he will help us to love his foster-son tenderly.

St. Joseph, husband of Mary, pray for us, who have recourse to thee!