Solemnity of Saint Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Lectionary: 543

It was not through the law
that the promise was made to Abraham and his descendants
that he would inherit the world,
but through the righteousness that comes from faith.
For this reason, it depends on faith,
so that it may be a gift,…

Christians love our paradoxes and the Catholic faith, in particular, cherishes them. Joseph is the husband of Mary but not exactly the father of Jesus. But he is Jesus’ father in more ways than one: he is the husband of Jesus’ mother, his “foster father” as we call him; and he gives to Jesus the rightful title, “Son of David.” More importantly, Joseph deserves the title “Father of Jesus” because he shares the “righteousness that comes from faith.”

Sometimes amateur theologians doubt Jesus’ claim to full human fellowship because he was born of the Virgin Mary. They would say he is not “like us in all things but sin” because he is not the son of a human male. That is an interesting argument but it fails to give credence to the faith of the evangelists. They and the early church recognized Jesus as fully human because he is the son of Mary, and fully divine because he is virgin born of the Holy Spirit. There were plenty of pagan myths about gods who appeared to be human. But Jesus from his birth to his burial was obviously a man, vulnerable to cold, hunger, sleeplessness and pain like every other human being. He received this gift from his beloved mother. Because he was fully human, he could not strip himself of his human body when it proved inconvenient, as a legendary god might do.

Joseph gives Jesus lineage in the royal House of David and, with it, the religious faith of “Abraham and his descendants.” With faith comes the gift of righteousness; Joseph and Jesus were righteous men because of their faith in God. That is no mean inheritance to give to the Son of Mary.

Recently the Church added to our Eucharistic prayers a phrase, “with blessed Joseph her spouse.” I heard no particular reason given for this adjustment to the most central prayer of the Catholic Church. 

It may be a response to the crisis of marriage and parenting. Too many children are being raised by single mothers and elderly grandparents. Saint Joseph reminds fathers, “You have to be present to win!”

Presence requires a full commitment to the mother of your children, meaning marriage with its vows of fidelity, loyalty, dependability and devotion. Children have a right to grow up in the same house with their biological parents, who demonstrate faith by their married love.

In the story of Saint Joseph, sketchy as it is, we learn of a man who made enormous sacrifices for “the child and his mother.” (see Matthew 2:11,13,20,21) Not only did he set aside his misgivings about the conception of her child, he abandoned his livelihood, connections and family in Bethlehem to take them into Egypt, and then to Nazareth. For their sake Joseph became a homeless exile, a political refugee among the millions who wander the earth.  

In our time, when families are torn apart by economic forces, political disruption, and the dubious search for personal satisfaction, Saint Joseph appears as one who silently sacrificed everything for the sake of “the child and his mother.”