St. Joseph: Strong Man, Husband and Father

With this CANFP News dedicated to the Year of St. Joseph, it is appropriate to spend some time reflecting on the husband of Mary and earthly father of Jesus, as do our three main articles. To be sure, when it comes to honoring Catholic saints, St. Joseph shoots right to the top of the list. Most saints have one feast day; St. Joseph has two. St. Joseph is mentioned in the four main Eucharistic Prayers that are prayed as part of Catholic Mass. We esteem St. Joseph because he excelled at being a single man, a husband and a father. Yet, perhaps husbands and fathers struggle to identify with Joseph, because he did not have a typical marriage. After all, he was not the biological father of Jesus and he lived a life of chaste celibacy with Mary.

Still, I think what St. Joseph exemplifies not only for husbands and fathers, but for all men, is that he is manly. In today’s cancel culture, perhaps it is not politically correct to say that a man is manly and a woman is womanly. But, in the Scriptures, Joseph is depicted as a strong, decisive man who loved his wife and Son deeply. He protected Mary and Jesus from Herod’s murderous intentions by taking them away from Herod in the middle of night and departing for Egypt. (cf. Mt 2:13-15) Joseph remained celibate throughout his whole life and thereby honored Mary’s fertility and protected the vow of virginity she made to God so that she could be the pure vessel of the Son and a Mother to us all. Joseph worked hard to provide for Mary and Jesus through his woodworking and would have taught Jesus all he knew about the trade, so that by the time Joseph died, Jesus could continue to provide for Mary and himself through his own woodcraft. (Most scholars agree that Joseph died sometime before Jesus began his public ministry around the age of 30.) Above all, a profound prayerfulness permeated Joseph’s sense of his mission and the faithful carrying out of that mission. We catch a glimpse of Joseph’s prayerfulness when he listened to the angel on two different occasions (marriage to Mary and the flight to Egypt) and obeyed God’s directives. All this is evidence of Joseph’s strength of character, his virtue and, yes, his manliness. Consequently, he not only serves as an excellent model for husbands and fathers (biological, adoptive, spiritual), but also for all men.

In my parish, I am blessed to have strong Joseph-like men. I think of “Miguel” (not his real name) who works a manual labor job to provide for his family of eight children. When I see Miguel with his wife and children at Mass, it is clear that he is the spiritual leader of the family. His daughters respect him and his sons look up to him. I think of “John”, a young, single man in his twenties who is working towards a career in law enforcement. John has been one of our youth leaders for a number of years and I can always count on him to help out at Mass. He wears his heart on his sleeve and is never afraid to share his emotions and his prayerful insights with others. I think of “Mateo” a single father who loves to pray, loves his son deeply and is very active in the parish. I thank God for parishioners like these, and others, who are strong men, husbands and fathers, and I thank God for St. Joseph!