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Matthew 1: 16-24
Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary.
Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.
Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
but before they lived together,
she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.
Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.
Such was his intention when, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
“Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.
For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her.
She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins.”
When Joseph awoke,
he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him
and took his wife into his home.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Today we celebrate the life of a man we know almost nothing about.
Joseph was the foster father of Jesus. But we only hear about Joseph in the early years of Jesus’ life. Even in the scriptures, one could argue that Joseph is largely forgotten.
What, if anything, can be said about him?
Joseph lived in an small village…He was married to a young, peasant girl named Mary… He spent his life as a carpenter, earning his daily bread by the sweat of his brow.
He knew the twinge of hunger, aching muscles from a long day’s work, and the value of a few cents.
He was an ordinary man.
Joseph never went to college. He never wrote a book. He never owned shares in the stock market. He never held public office. He never made the news. He never lived in a major city or even journeyed far from his home.
The only time he left his country was to flee to Egypt as a refugee because King Herod wanted to kill Jesus. And the child wasn’t even his.
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On the surface, Joseph did nothing extraordinary in the world’s eyes. He was uneducated; a peasant; a refugee.
A nobody.
Yet 2,000 years have come and gone and we still honor his life. Out of the billions of people who’ve lived and died, Joseph is one of the few our world still remembers…
And celebrates.
Maybe that’s because we all see something of ourselves in him.
Joseph worked hard. He loved deeply. He was a faithful husband. A devout father. And he was faithful to the tasks God entrusted to him.
That’s what counts in the end.
Being faithful. Humble. And responsible for the tasks God has given us. If we do these things, then we, too, will be blessed in the eyes of God. Saint Joseph, pray for us!
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Image credits: (1) sspx.org (2) Saint Joseph with the Infant Jesus, Reni (3) thestationsofthecross.com, Pinterest