During the month of February, we see signs of Valentine’s Day; heart and cupid cut-outs in stores, even in business offices. Valentine’s Day originated as a Catholic feast day honoring Valentine, a martyr who through folk tradition became a significant religious, cultural, and now commercial celebration of love.
During this month, let us remember another man who was giving and who loved wholeheartedly, St. Joseph, the chaste spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and foster father of Jesus. He loved and cared for them both. He is for us a true model of love. The source of his love was God, who called him to take Mary as his wife and to be, as St. John Paul II wrote, Guardian of the Redeemer.
Everything we know about Joseph comes from Scripture. We know he was a carpenter, a working man; skeptical Nazarenes, when asking about Jesus said, “Is this not the carpenter’s son?” (Matthew 13:55).
Joseph wasn’t rich, for when he took Jesus to the Temple to be circumcised and Mary to be purified, he offered the sacrifice of two turtledoves or a pair of pigeons, allowed only for those who could not afford a lamb (Luke 2:24).
Despite his humble work and means, Joseph came from a royal lineage, as we read in the gospels of Luke and Matthew; from the king of Israel. Remember the angel who first told Joseph about Jesus greeted him as “son of David,” a royal title used also for Jesus (Matthew 1:1-16, Luke 3:23-38).
There are other scriptures that tell us of his obedience to the Heavenly Father. His love for God bore fruit in his love for Mary and the child Jesus.
Learning from St. Joseph will help us to trust in God’s will for each one of us and to embrace a relationship with Jesus and Mary.
As we approach his feast day on March 19, and celebrate his role as chaste spouse of Mary and legal father of Jesus; let us ask his intercession to grow in the virtue of charity and to trust God with all aspects of our lives. Psalm 25:5 assures us; “Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.”
When we trust as St. Joseph did, we can gain the freedom to be assured God will show us the way. Let’s look at two of Joseph’s many virtues that can help us cultivate hope.
Follow the example of St. Joseph’s prudence. Joseph teaches us that prudence is correct knowledge of things that ought to be done and of things that should be avoided.
We need this intellectual virtue; this ability to recognize in any matter at hand what is good and what is evil. As St. Catherine of Siena reflected, “Nothing great is ever achieved without enduring much.”
Follow the example of St. Joseph’s obedience. When he discovered Mary was pregnant after they had been betrothed, an angel came to him in a dream saying, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” He did as the angel told him and took Mary as his wife. (Matthew 1:19-25). Joseph was obedient to God’s call; his obedience was the fruit of his faithful love for God and his laws. He was a compassionate, caring man. Saint John Bosco assured, “The Lord always blesses those who are obedient to His commands.”
Many of St. Joseph’s virtues, those of love, prudence, and obedience, can inspire us to grow in our hope—a hope that will move us forward in this Jubilee Year and realize we are indeed on a journey as pilgrims of hope!
Seek the intercession of St. Joseph daily: Remember, O most chaste spouse of the Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto you, my spiritual father, and beg your protection. O Foster Father of the Redeemer, despise not my petitions, but in your goodness hear and answer me. Amen. (St. Joseph Memorare)
Originally written by Pilgrim Center of Hope for Today's Catholic newspaper.
Mary Jane Fox, D.C.H.S. is Co-Founder & Co-Director of Pilgrim Center of Hope with her husband, Deacon Tom Fox. The two left their careers after a profound conversion experience and began working full-time in ministry at their parish in 1986. After several years and having impacted tens of thousands of families, the Foxes founded Pilgrim Center of Hope in 1993 as a response to the Church’s call for a New Evangelization. Mary Jane is an invested member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, a Dame of the Holy Sepulchre.
Answering Christ’s call, Pilgrim Center of Hope guides people to encounter Him so as to live in hope, as pilgrims in daily life. See what’s happening & let us journey with you! Visit PilgrimCenterOfHope.org.
