What is your image of St. Joseph, the step father of Jesus,
the husband of Mary?
The Bible does not tell much about Joseph –except he is on
the Abrahamic and Davidic lineage (Matthew 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-38), was engaged
to Mary when she became pregnant with Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit and
adopted him as his own son (Luke 1:26-38,2:1-52; Matthew 1:18-2:23).
On May 1, the Catholic Church honors Joseph as a patron
saint of workers, calling him St. Joseph the Worker.
Joseph has another feast day, March 18, known as the Fiesta
of St. Joseph’s Table.
St. Joseph’s Table Day (March 18) focuses more on Joseph as
the provider to his family, the Holy Family, the feast of St. Joseph the Worker
(May 1) rather focuses as Joseph’s hard work ethic as a model to all
workers. These two feast days of St.
Joseph remind us of the importance of work to care for our loved ones – our families.
Not to mention, this is a part of the salvific plan of the Father in Heaven, as
salvation requires our hard word to realize the Will of the Father on earth as
it is in heaven.
Besides Joseph’s hard work as a carpenter (Matthew 13:55;
Mark 6:3), and a loyal and loving husband to Mary and stepfather to Jesus, what
impresses Joseph is his commitment to protect his family, when baby Jesus was threatened
by King Herod’s evil sword, as described
in Matthew 2: 13-23.
The way Joseph protected baby Jesus and Mary, as the head of
the Holy Family ( Matthew 2:13-23) evokes the way Jesus’s character as the Good
Shepherd, who saves his sheep (John 10:1-18).
Though it is not that Joseph had to lay his own life to save
the lives of baby Jesus and Mary, what he did was an act of saving by taking
them out of Nazareth in Galilee to Egypt, similar to how Moses led his people
out of Egypt into wilderness. What is
common both to Joseph’s act of saving his family and Moses’ act of saving his
people is that both of these leading men listened to God’s will and faithfully
acted on it.
As a baby, Jesus, who has become a leader, like his step
father or earthly father, Joseph, was once benefited by Joseph’s shepherd-like
act. I am certain that this impacted
Jesus in a way for him to identify himself as the Good Shepherd to us.
St. Joseph, the worker, is not just about protecting
families from perishing through our hard work, bringing bread to the family
table. He is also about working hard in doing God’s will to save our families
like the Good Shepherd.
St. Joseph, based on his act in Matthew 2:13-23 is no
stranger to his son’s self-identification as the Good Shepherd in John 10:1-18.
The work of St. Joseph was not just about carpentry. It was rather the work of taking care of the Holy Family, protecting and saving Jesus and Mary, from any harm's way - because it is in the will of the Father. And, Jesus also has obeyed this in a way far greater than his step father, Joseph did, as he has laid his very life for his sheep on the Cross, for our salvation. The spirit of St. Joseph the worker now calls us to follow this.
Happy feast of St. Joseph the Worker! May we work hard to
protect and save and nourish our loved ones, especially our families, as it is
in God’s salvific plan.
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