St. Joseph the Worker

May 1 is the feast of St. Joseph the Worker, the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus Christ - and yet St. Joseph never speaks in Scripture!

The silence of St. Joseph is like the silence of God the Father. Each stands as Father to Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. Each, Father and foster father, creates, the One making the cosmos, the other doing carpentry. Each protects the Son and preserves His mother, creating in order to sustain, to give life and sustenance to those they love. Each is reliable, strong, secure, each a protector and preserver. Each is righteous. Joseph is a godly man (see Mt 1:19), after God's own heart - a true son of David (see Acts 13:22).

Yes, St. Joseph is an icon of God the Father - made in God's own image and likeness, you might say, an appropriate sort of person to raise God's only begotten Son. Why? Because in Scripture, to be in the "image and likeness" of another is to be a son.

 

"God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." - Gn 1:27

"When God created human beings, he made them in the likeness of God; he created them male and female. ... Adam was one hundred and thirty years old when he begot a son in his likeness, after his image; and he named him Seth." - Gn 5:1, 3

Joseph is a man after God's own heart, a good son of the eternal Father, and so is a good choice to be father to the eternal Son. Though Joseph wasn't Jesus' biological father (and so Jesus wouldn't look like Joseph), still Joseph would have formed Jesus as any other father would form their son. Joseph would be an example for Jesus, a model of how to be a good Jewish man, a good carpenter, and a good member of their family. Jesus, though fully God, is also fully man. His humanity would need shaping, teaching, guiding. And He obeyed his parents. Scripture records this, and also tells us the result.

"He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them ... And Jesus advanced [in] wisdom and age and favor before God and man." - Lk 2:51, 52

So let us follow the lead of the Lord and put ourselves under the paternal care of St. Joseph. Let us imitate St. Joseph the Worker, a righteous man, and become conformed to his image and likeness. Let us become good children of St. Joseph, and so become men and women after God's own heart. And let us ask for St. Joseph's prayers and protection always, so that we, like Mary and Jesus, may walk in the ways of God and do what we are called to do.

If you consecrated to Jesus through Mary or completed the Consoling the Heart of Jesus retreat, we'd love to hear your story. Please take a moment and share your journey below. If you have pictures, we'd love to see them, too. Just email them to HAPP@Marian.org!

MYSF

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