Today Holy Mother Church rejoices to celebrate the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, patron of fathers, patron of workers, patron of the Universal Church, patron of the unborn. I don’t think enough can be said about a man who spent so much of his time and energy doing what was right and all the while going so very much unnoticed.
As a husband and father myself I think his example has only become more important to me over the years. It is so very easy to, and our society seems to reward those who, put yourself first and loudly broadcast each and every accomplishment and then stiffly give the excuse “I was doing it to give them a better life”. Indeed.
In his Joseph of Nazareth Fr. Suarez most clearly the model Joseph provides for us:
He devoted his life to the attention he paid them, dedicated to fulfilling his vocation – the mission to which he had been called. As a dedicated man is one who does not belong to himself, Joseph ceased to be concerned for himself from the moment when, enlightened by an angel in that first dream, he fully accepted God’s designs for him. Receiving Mary as his spouse he began to live for those who had been placed in his care. God had entrusted him with his family, and Joseph did not disappoint him. God sought support in him, and he stood firm in every instance.
O Glorious Saint Joseph, pray for us!
