Since the Holy Father promulgated his Apostolic Letter Patris Corde ("With a Father's Heart") on 8 December 2020, the observance of the Year of Saint Joseph goes from then until the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, which falls on 21 November 2021. Among the reasons the Holy Father is dedicating this year to Saint Joseph is that is was 150 years ago, 8 December 1870, that Pope Pius IX declared Saint Joseph to be Patron of the Universal Church.
It is well-known that Pope Francis keeps a statue of Saint Joseph sleeping on his desk. He's stated that it's his practice when there is an issue or question that presents him with uncertainty he writes it on a slip of paper and places it overnight under this statue. According to Saint Matthew's Gospel, it was while Joseph slept that an angel appeared to him and helped him concerning his uncertainty about what to do with his unexpectedly pregnant betrothed, Mary.
Saint Joseph asleep on Pope Francis's desk
Four times in the first to chapters of Matthew's Gospel Joseph directed by an angel through his dreams: he is told not to put Mary away but to take her for his wife because the child she is carrying is the Son of God (Matthew 1:20-24). I believe his response counts as Joseph's annunciation. His doing as the angel directed is his own fiat, his agreement to and active participation in God's plan. Next, Joseph is warned in a dream to leave Bethlehem and flee to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15). It is in a dream that Joseph is given the all-clear to return to the land of Israel (Matthew 2:19-21). Rather than return to Bethlehem, due to a warning he received in a dream, Joseph relocated his family to Nazareth in Galilee (Matthew 2:22-23).
Prior to writing about any of Joseph's dreams, the inspired author of the Gospel According to Saint Matthew establishes that Joseph "was a righteous man" (Matthew 1:19). As with Mary's fiat, Joseph's consent to his role in God's plan was freely given. This is, no doubt, the result of his righteousness, which nothing other than a desire to do God's will. I think it's safe to say that in a manner similar to that of the Blessed Virgin, Saint Joseph found favor with God.
I highly recommend reading Patris Corde. In it you will find great wisdom under seven headings: A beloved father; A tender and loving father; An obedient father; An accepting father; A creatively courageous father; A working father; A father in the shadows.
In the Prologue to his new book, Let Us Dream: The Path to a Better Future (an echo of Joseph in the title, n'est ce pas?), Pope Francis discusses how life's crises shape and form us. Crises, he insists, reveals our hearts. Living through, dealing with, learning from crises is how we grow. Even the little bit we know about Joseph from the first two chapters of Matthew indicate he is a model of precisely what the Holy Father is trying to convey.
I will end with the Prayer to Saint Joseph with which Pope Francis ends Patris Corde:
Hail, Guardian of the Redeemer,
Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
To you God entrusted his only Son;
in you Mary placed her trust;
with you Christ became man.
Blessed Joseph, to us too,
show yourself a father
and guide us in the path of life.
Obtain for us grace, mercy and courage,
and defend us from every evil. Amen.
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