St. Joseph the Worker--May 1

Feast Day Thoughts

Today is the feast day of St. Joseph the Worker and as St. Joseph is one of my favorite Saints and patron of my diocese, I wish to offer some thoughts on this remarkable man.

Was Joseph young or was he old? From what I have read, there is no clear answer to this question. Early church writings seem to indicate that he was an elderly man who had been married prior to being betrothed to Mary and had children from his first marriage. These are the "brothers and sisters" referred to in Mark's Gospel, according to some. Others claim that Jesus' "brothers and sisters" were cousins.
Then later...around the 14th century, advocates of Joseph, husband of Mary, started to depict Joseph as a younger man.

Personally, I don't know if it matters to me.

What is important to me about St. Joseph is his loving care of Mary and Jesus. Not only did he buck the unspoken rule of the day regarding taking a pregnant woman as his wife (when he knew he was not the father of the child), he also adopted the child as his own and loved him dearly.
Of course, divine intervention did come into play and helped St. Joseph in his decision making. In a dream he was told not to fear taking the woman Mary as his wife and that the child would be the son of the Most High. He named the child as commanded by the angel giving him the dream--a matter of faith and obedience. Later, obeying another dream, he fled Herod's persecution with his wife and newborn into Egypt where they lived as, presumably, "illegal aliens" until Joseph had another dream and returned with his family to Nazareth when Herod had died.

So much of the young life of Jesus and also of Joseph is not recorded. Because there exists only the story about losing Jesus in the temple in Jerusalem when Jesus was 12, we can speculate that life was very ordinary for Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Joseph provided for his family as a carpenter, teaching Jesus his trade as was the custom. Whether the children listed in Mark were Joseph's from a previous marriage or his cousins, it seems clear that Jesus was surrounded by a large family. The Gospels do not mention Joseph again after the finding of Jesus in the temple at age 12 and it is presumed that he died before Jesus began his public ministry.

Joseph was chosen by God to be the foster father of God's son. What an honor! We often honor Mary--rightfully so--as being chosen by God but forget that Joseph was chosen, too. If you could not raise your only son, who would you choose to do it for you? I think it speaks highly of Joseph.

St. Joseph has always been a comfort to me and I often seek his friendship and guidance when in need.
I thank you, Abba, for choosing Joseph for Jesus and Mary and also for all of us.