Every day of Lent, Bishop Edward Malesic writes a Scripture reflection for the faithful. Follow the bishop on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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Today the Church honors St. Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and adoptive father of Jesus.
We don’t know very much about St. Joseph from the scriptures. After the story of the finding of Jesus in the temple we read nothing more about him.
Still, as elusive as he is, he is very much honored by our Church and always has been. He was the man who took Mary as his wife under very unusual circumstance because he believed in the word of an angel during a dream. He is the man who brought Mary safely to Bethlehem where she would give birth to Jesus, in fulfilment of an ancient prophesy. He is the man who fled from real danger with his young family to Egypt to seek a safe haven as an immigrant refugees. And Joseph is the man who taught Jesus the rituals and practices of the Jewish faith, took him to synagogue to learn the Hebrew Scriptures, celebrated his bar mitzvah and taught him a carpenter’s trade to provide for himself until he began his ministry. Joseph modeled for Jesus the qualities of faithful manhood, respectful fatherhood, and faithful membership in his community and religion.
Without St. Joseph, Mary would have been left unprotected, Jesus would have been left fatherless, and the story of the Gospel would have been entirely different.
St. Joseph didn’t know the details of God’s plan; he just knew that he was being asked to be the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus. And those are the responsibilities he took on with great devotion.
We are grateful that St. Joseph heard God’s call, listened to it, and followed it.
He is an example of trust, courage, fidelity, and love for all of us.