In many countries, the Solemnity of Saint Joseph is a holy day of obligation for Roman Catholics. The Church almost always celebrates Saint Joseph’s feast during Lent. The earliest Easter can possibly be is 22 March. On the extremely rare occasion Easter falls that early, the Solemnity of Saint Joseph is “bumped” by Holy Thursday. To give you an idea as to how rare this, the last time Easter was on 22 March was in 1818 and the next time it is celebrated that early will be in 2285.1
It’s nice to have these celebrations in the midst of this holy season of penance. When either of these solemnities falls on a Friday of Lent, as Saint Joseph’s does today, there is no obligation to observe abstinence. So, tonight have steak for supper and thank Saint Joseph.
What these solemnities do is remind us to rejoice, to celebrate what God has done for us in and through Christ. Occurring when they do and so close together, these celebrations should deepen our appreciation of the beauty of the Paschal Mystery we are called to embody as Christ’s verum corpus, his true body.
In our Gospel, the inspired author of Matthew’s Gospel does not just tell us that Joseph was “a righteous man.”2 He illustrates how he is righteous. Upon learning that his betrothed, which entails a deeper commitment than simply being engaged, was pregnant, knowing how these things happen and that he was not the father of this child, he was determined to shield Mary from the harsh prescription of the law, which, when applied strictly, held that she should be stoned to death.
It is important to note that Joseph did not have the dream informing him of Mary's child’s divine paternity until after his righteousness was made manifest. This also demonstrates what Saint Paul, in our reading from Romans, meant when he wrote “it was not through the law” that God kept his promise to Abraham, our father in faith, that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky.3
According to the chronology of the Torah- the first five books of the Bible- God made his promise to Abraham well before he gave the law to Moses. It is to this same promise that the prophet Nathan alludes in our first reading; a promise that has advanced concretely, even if unevenly and unexpectedly, through history. It is crucial to grasp that God does not ultimately accomplish his purposes through the law. Saint Paul held that the law served as our teacher until Christ came.4
It is through Jesus Christ, a descendant of Abraham in the flesh, that God accomplishes his purposes. It is through Christ, by faith, that we are the children of Abraham- the fulfillment of God’s promise. Jesus is not a new Moses. And so, Joseph’s righteousness is not demonstrated by his strict adherence to the law but believing in and obeying God, who spoke to him through angels and in dreams.
Paul boldly asserted that the letter of the law kills, while the spirit of the law gives life.5 The spirit of the law is to love your neighbor as you love yourself. Indeed, if Joseph had invoked the letter of law, the Son of God would have been killed in utero. People who scoff at Pope Francis’s insistence that God is a God of surprises have no deep grasp of scripture and they certainly cannot make sense of Saint Joseph's experience. As the late Rich Mullins observed: “God is a wild man.”
In the Hebrew Bible, it was Joseph, the great-grandson of Abraham, according to biblical genealogy, who was famed for interpreting dreams. In fact, it was his interpretation of Pharaoh's dream that saved Egypt from famine and led him to becoming something like the prime minister of Egypt.
Staying in Matthew’s Gospel, it was Saint Joseph who took Mary and the child Jesus to Egypt. He did not go as leader, as a V.I.P. The Holy Family went to the land of the pharaohs as refugees, fleeing Herod’s murderous wrath. Presumably, while in the land of the Nile, Joseph plied his trade as carpenter, tekton in Greek.
In his Apostolic Letter, Patris Corde (“With a father’s heart”), promulgated last 8 December, the Solemnity of Immaculate Conception, Pope Francis declared this year the Year of Saint Joseph.
Saint Joseph Icon by Br. Claude, OSB, of Mount Angel Abbey]
In the opening sentence of Patris Corde, the Holy Father points out that in each of the four Gospels Jesus is referred to “the son of Joseph.”6 Later on, towards the end of the letter, he affirms that “Fathers are not born, but made.” Pope Francis insists that a “man does not become a father simply by bringing a child into the world, but by taking up the responsibility for the life of another.” By doing this, the pope insists, a man “becomes a father to” the person for whom he takes up responsibility.7
Because he was fully human, it would be ridiculous not to believe that for Jesus, as for all of us, who we become as people is both the result of nature and nurture. Sure, given that Jesus was also divine, this interaction is more complex- it is complex with us, too. But surely the kind of righteousness Joseph exhibited in the wake of discovering his betrothed was pregnant with child that was not his, gives us insight in how Jesus was raised.
In his lovely letter, Pope Francis discusses Saint Joseph under five headings: A tender and loving father; An obedient father; An accepting father; A creatively courageous father, A working father.
In the first section, pointing to the enormity of the task with which God entrusted Saint Joseph- raising the Son of God- the Holy Father notes, quoting Saint Paul, which quote is included in our second reading, that “The history of salvation is worked out ‘in hope against hope' (Rom 4:18).” Most of God’s plans, he asserts, “are realized in and despite our frailty.” “Even through Joseph’s fears, God’s will, his history and his plan were at work.” And so, Joseph “teaches us that faith in God includes believing that he can work even through our fears, frailties and our weaknesses.”8
As an obedient father, in each situation, “Joseph declared his own ‘fiat,’ his own “be it done unto me according to your will,” like those of Mary at the Annunciation and Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.”9
Joseph accepted God’s will, even when it was not likely what he would have willed for himself. When he was told by the angel not be afraid and to bring the pregnant Mary into his home as his wife, Joseph set aside anger and disappointment and accepted his circumstances. He did not resign himself to some vague fate. Rather, he accepted God’s will with courage and hope.10
In addition to facing the situations in which he found himself with courage and obedience, Joseph was creative. He turned “problems into possibilities,” always remaining open to divine providence, allways discerning God's will for his life. Taking his family to Egypt is an example of this.11
Of course, Saint Joseph was a worker. On 1 May, we celebrate the Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker. This ties back into the environment of Jesus’s upbringing. Like Joseph, Jesus, too, was a tekton, someone who earned his living, at least up until the beginning of his public ministry, with his hands.12
Alluding to the fact that in many of her prayers, the Church refers to Saint Joseph as the Blessed Virgin’s chaste spouse, Pope Francis notes that, in the first instance, chastity is the “summation of an attitude that is opposite of possessiveness.”13
He goes on to state that “Chastity is freedom from possessiveness in every sphere of one’s life.” Hence, only when love is chaste, is it true love. The logic of love is always the logic of freedom. So, there is something to the saying “If you love someone, set them free.” Love that is love can only be freely chosen. In either time or eternity, it can never be imposed.
God is love. And so, God is freedom. Jesus came to liberate us. The answer to the question “Does God love me?” is always and emphatically “Yes!” Proof of this is Jesus on the cross: “God so loved the world…”14 The more important question is, “Do I love God?” Saint Joseph shows us what an affirmative answer to that question looks like.
1 MrReid.org, “You’ve already experienced the earliest Easter you’ll ever know.”↩
2 Matthew 1:19.↩
3 Genesis 5:15.↩
4 Galatians 3:23-26.↩
5 2 Corinthians 3:6.↩
6 Pope Francis, Apostolic Letter, Patris Corde; Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3; Luke 4:22; John 6:42.↩
7 Ibid- all citations in this paragraph.↩
8 Patris Corde, “A tender loving father.”↩
9 Patris Corde, “An obedient father.”↩
10 Patris Corde, “An accepting father.”↩
11 Patris Corde, “A creatively courageous father.”↩
12 Patris Corde, “A working father.”↩
13 Patris Corde- this and next paragraph.↩
14 John 3:16.↩
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