Today, the Church celebrates the feast of Saint Joseph, head of the Holy Family and Patron saint of the workers, the universal Church and of the Pope himself who was born Joseph Ratzinger.
Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, founder of the ‘Opus Dei’, which is an organisation which is comprised of laypeople and priests dedicated to the motto that everyone is called to holiness and that ordinary life is a path to holiness, used to say: “St. Joseph was an ordinary sort of man on whom God relied upon to do great things. He did exactly what the Lord wanted him to do, in each and every event that went to make up his life”.
Saint Escrivà’s claim can be substantiated through the heroic way Saint Joseph espoused God’s will for him. As a matter of fact, every time I read the Matthean account when the Lord appeared to Joseph during his sleep to announce to him to take Mary as his wife because that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit I finish up being amazed by this “just man’s” (Matt 1, 19) total trust in God. The Gospel itself unveils it powerfully and succinctly: “When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him” (Matt 1,24).
His almost automatic response to God’s calling makes me ask the obvious question: what was the motivating force behind Joseph’s blind obedience to the Lord’s design? After thinking it through I arrived at the conclusion that his spiritual intimacy with Mary, his wife, has been decisive and pivotal in the way he reacted the Lord’s invitation. It was practically impossible for “the carpenter of Nazareth” to persevere in his faith journey as the guardian of the mystery of God had he not opened himself up completely to the Holy Spirit in the way he was working through Mary complete surrender to the Father’s plan. In fact, in his apostolic exhortation on the person and mission of Saint Joseph in the life of Christ and of the Church, ‘Redemptoris Custos’, Blessed John Paul II thoroughly explained this point when he said:
“Now at the beginning of this pilgrimage, the faith of Mary meets the faith of Joseph. If Elizabeth said of the Redeemer’s Mother, ‘blessed is she who believed,’ in a certain sense this blessedness can be referred to Joseph as well, since he responded positively to the word of God when it was communicated to him at the decisive moment. While it is true that Joseph did not respond to the angel’s ‘announcement’ in the same way as Mary, he ‘did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took his wife.’ What he did is the clearest ‘obedience of faith’ (cf. Rom 1:5; 16:26; 2 Cor 10:5-6).
One can say that what Joseph did united him in an altogether special way to the faith of Mary. He accepted as truth coming from God the very thing that she had already accepted at the Annunciation. The Council teaches: ‘The obedience of faith’ must be given to God as he reveals himself. By this obedience of faith man freely commits himself entirely to God, making ‘the full submission of his intellect and will to God who reveals,’ and willingly assenting to the revelation given by him.’ This statement, which touches the very essence of faith, is perfectly applicable to Joseph of Nazareth” (§ 4).
Saint Joseph’s obedience stemmed from his honest collaboration with God’s grace through the spiritual support of Mary. In our obedience journey to God can we acknowledge His help through the agency of our brothers and sisters?
■ Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap
San Gwann