Life of Saints - Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph is honorued by the Church as the spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the foster-father of Jesus. Although he has not preached the Gospel throughout the world, has performed any miracles during his life time or sacrificed his life for his faith, he is honorued as the greatest saint of the Church.
He was a Jew descended from David, the king of Jews, and a carpenter by trade. He fell in love with a girl named Mary in his hometown. He was engaged to Mary with the approval of her parents when he came to know that Mary is to give birth to a child. Justifying the description of him by St. Matthew as a just man, he decided to leave the village secretly taking the blame on him so as to not put Mary in trouble. It was then an angel appeared to him in a dream and told him that Mary is conceived with Jesus, Son of God and the promised saviour, through the Holy Spirit. Joseph gave up all his plans, expectations, hopes and rights to obey and follow the will of God. Joseph’s “Yes” to God’s plan, as well as Mary’s “Yes” played a major role in bringing salvation to the world.
When he had to travel to Bethlehem with a pregnant Mary he did not complain. When he could not find a suitable place for the birth of Jesus he did not complain and tell God that it was He who should arrange a place for His Son’s birth. When he had to flee to Egypt with Mary and the infant Jesus, he did not ask God why He cannot arrange safety for them. He knew God is using us to help others and others to help us, and we can be of best use to God when we obey Him.
After they came back from Egypt and settled in Nazareth, it was not only his trade that Saint Joseph taught to child Jesus but also the word of God. What he taught to Jesus was strong enough for young Jesus to recognize God as his father and the temple as his father’s house.
Although some pictures depict St. Joseph as an old person, in reality he would have being a young person due to the tradition of at that time and the age of Mary. It is considered he must have died before Jesus only because nothing about him is mentioned in the Gospel after the incident of losing child Jesus in the Temple. Considering the fact that both Jesus and Mary must have been there with him at his death bed, he is honoured as the mediator for a holy and peaceful death. While he, as the head of the Holy Family, has been introduced as a model for fathers (feast day – March 19), he has also been named as the patron saint for workers who earn their living through labour (feast day – May 01).
He became a Saint, the most honoured saint of the Church, just by being obedient to God and doing what was entrusted to him faithfully. Although I mentioned at the beginning that he was not a preacher, miracle performer or a martyr, one can argue that he was all of those.
Hidden Life of Saint Joseph
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Song to Saint Joseph
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