St. Joseph: Man
of Trust
H. H.
John Paul II
General Audience
March 19, 1980
1. Let us
dedicate our meeting today, which falls on 19 March, to the
one whom the Church, according to a very ancient tradition,
surrounds on this day with the veneration due to the
greatest Saints. The nineteenth of March is the solemnity of
St. Joseph, the husband of the Blessed Virgin, the Mother of
Christ. As early as the tenth century we find this feast
marked in various calendars. Pope Sixtus IV accepted it in
the calendar of the Church of Rome from the year 1479. In
1621 it was inserted in the calendar of the universal
Church.
So interrupting the series of our meditations, which we have
now been developing for some time, let us turn today to this
figure so dear and close to the heart of the Church and, in
the Church, to one and all of those who are trying to know
the ways of salvation, and to walk along them in their
earthly lies. Let today's meditation prepare us for prayer,
in order that, recognizing the great works of God in the one
to whom he entrusted his mysteries. We may seek in our
personal lies the living reflection of these works in order
to carry them out with the faithfulness, the humility and
'he nobility of heart which were characteristic of St.
Joseph.
Being a just man
2. "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your
wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy
Spirit; she will bear a son and you shall call his name
Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins" (Mt
1:20-21).
We find these words in the first chapter of the Gospel
according to Matthew. They -- especially in the second part
-- sound similar to those that Miriam, that is Mary, heard
at the moment of the Annunciation. In a few days -- 25 March
-- we will recall in the liturgy of the Church the moment in
which those words were spoken at Nazareth "to a virgin
betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of
David; and the virgin's name was Mary" (Lk 1:27). The
description of the Annunciation is found in the Gospel
according to Luke.
Subsequently Matthew notes again that, after Mary's marriage
to Joseph, "before they came together she was found to be
with child of the Holy Spirit" (MT 1:18). In this way,
therefore, there was accomplished in Mary the mystery which
had had its beginning at the moment of the Annunciation, at
the moment when the Virgin replied to Gabriel's words:
"Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me
according to your word" (Lk 1:38). As Joseph became aware of
the mystery of Mary's maternity, "being a just man and
unwilling to put her to shame, (he) resolved to divorce her
quietly" (Mt 1:19), as Matthew's description goes on to say.
And precisely then Joseph, Mary's Betrothed and before the
law already her husband, receives his personal
"Annunciation." During the night he hears the words we
quoted above, the words, which are an explanation and at the
same time an invitation on the part of God: "Do not fear to
take Mary your wife" (Mt 1:20).
Mystery entrusted to Joseph
3. At the same time God entrusts to Joseph the mystery, the
fulfillment of which had been awaited for so many
generations by the race of David and the whole "house of
Israel," and at the same time He entrusts to him everything
on which the fulfillment of this mystery depends in the
history of the People of God.
From the moment when these words reached his consciousness,
Joseph becomes the man of Divine election: the man entrusted
with a special responsibility. His place in the history of
salvation is defined. Joseph takes this place with the
simplicity and humility which reveal the man's spiritual
depth; and he fills it completely with his life.
"When Joseph woke from sleep -- we read in Matthew -- he did
as the angel of the Lord commanded him" (MT 1:24). In these
few words there is everything. The whole description of
Joseph's life and the full characteristic of his holiness:
"He did. Joseph, the one we know from the Gospel, is a man
of action.
He is a man of work. The Gospel has not preserved any word
of his. It has described, on the contrary, his actions:
simple, everyday actions, which have at the same time a
limpid meaning for the fulfillment of the divine Promise in
the history of man; works full of spiritual depth and mature
simplicity.
Hidden in the shadow of Joseph
4. Such is Joseph's activity, such are his deeds, before
there had been revealed to him the mystery of the
Incarnation of the Son of God, which the Holy Spirit had
effected in his Betrothed. Such also is Joseph's subsequent
work, when -- already aware of the mystery of Mary's
virginal maternity -- he remains at her side in the period
preceding the birth of Jesus and above all on the occasion
of the Nativity.
Then we see Joseph at the moment of the presentation in the
temple and of the arrival of the Three Wise Men from the
East. Shortly afterwards the drama of the newborn babies in
Bethlehem commences. Joseph is again called and instructed
by the voice from Above on what to do. He undertakes the
flight into Egypt with the Mother and the Child. Shortly
afterwards, he returns to his native Nazareth.
There he finds again at last his house and the workshop, to
which he would certainly have returned before if Herod's
atrocities had not prevented him. When Jesus is twelve years
old, he goes with Him and Mary to Jerusalem. In the temple
of Jerusalem, after they have both found Jesus whom they had
lost, Joseph hears these mysterious words: "Did you not know
that I must be in my Father's house?" (Lk 2:49). Thus spoke
the 12-year-old boy, and Joseph, like Mary, knows very well
about Whom he is talking.
Nevertheless, in the house at Nazareth, Jesus was obedient (Lk
2:51) to them both, to Joseph and Mary, just as a son is
obedient to his parents. The years of the hidden life of the
Holy Family of Nazareth pass. The Son of God -- sent by the
Father -- is hidden from the world, hidden from all men,
even from those nearest. Only Mary and Joseph know his
Mystery. They live in his circle. They live this Mystery
daily. The Son of the eternal Father passes, before men, as
their son; as "the carpenter's son" (MT 13:55). When the
time of his public mission begins, Jesus will refer in the
synagogue of Nazareth to Isaiah's words, which are fulfilled
in him at that moment, and neighbors and his fellow townsmen
will say: "Is this not Joseph's Son?" (Lk 4:16-22).
The Son of God, the Word Incarnate, remained hidden for
thirty years of his earthly life: hidden in the shadow of
Joseph. At the same time Mary and Joseph remained hidden in
Christ, in his mystery and his mission. In particular
Joseph, who--as can be gathered from the Gospel -- left the
world before Jesus revealed Himself to Israel as the Christ,
remained hidden in the mystery of Him whom the heavenly
Father had entrusted to him when He was still in the
Virgin's womb, saying to him through the angel: "Do not fear
to take Mary your wife" (MT 1:20). Deep souls -- such as St.
Thérèse of Jesus -- and the penetrating eyes of
contemplation were required in order that the splendid
features of Joseph of Nazareth -- he whom the heavenly
Father willed to make, on earth, his trusted one -- could be
revealed.
Turn to Joseph
The Church however has always been aware, and is
particularly aware today, of how fundamental was the
vocation of that man: the husband of Mary, the one who, in
the eyes of men, passed for the father of Jesus and who was,
according to the spirit, a perfect incarnation of fatherhood
in the human and at the same time holy family.
In this light, the thoughts and the heart of the Church, her
prayer and her devotion, turn to Joseph of Nazareth. In this
light the apostolate and pastor work find in him support in
that vast and at the same time fundamental field, the
vocation of marriage and parenthood, the whole of family
life, full of the simple and helpful solicitude of the
husband for his wife, of the father and mother for their
children -- life in the family -- in that smaller Church on
which every Church is constructed.
Since we are preparing in the current year for the Synod of
Bishops, the subject of which is "the role of the Christian
family," we feel all the more the need of the intercession
of St. Joseph and his help in our work. The Church which, as
the society of the People of God, calls herself also the
Family of God, also sees St. Joseph's very special place
with regard to this great Family and recognizes him as her
special Patron.
May this meditation awaken in us the need of prayer for the
intercession of him in whom the heavenly Father expressed,
on earth, all the spiritual dignity of fatherhood. May
meditation on his life and works, so deeply hidden in the
mystery of Christ and, at the same time, so simple and
limpid, help everyone to find again the rightful value and
beauty of the vocation from which every human family draws
its spiritual power and holiness.
With these sentiments let us now address our prayer to God.
Beloved Brothers! God has deigned to choose man and woman to
collaborate, in love and in toil, in his work of creating
and redeeming the world. Let us raise together our prayer to
God, through the intercession of St. Joseph, the head of the
Holy Family of Nazareth and Patron Saint of the universal
Church. Let us pray together and say: Lord hear us!
1. For all pastors and ministers of the Church, that they
may serve the People of God with active and generous
dedication, as St. Joseph served in a worthy way the Lord
Jesus and his Virgin Mother, Lord hear us!
2. For the public authorities, that in the service of the
common good they may direct economic and social life with
justice and uprightness, in respect for the rights and
dignity of all, Lord hear us!
3. That God may deign to unite with the Passion of his Son
the toil and suffering of the workers, the anguish of the
unemployed, the grief of the oppressed, and that He may give
help and comfort to everyone, Lord hear us!
4. For all our families and for all their members: parents,
children, the old, relatives, that, in respect for the life
and personality of each one, they may all collaborate in the
growth of faith and charity, to be real witnesses to the
Gospel, Lord hear us!
Oh Lord, bestow on your faithful the Spirit of truth and
peace, that they may know you with all their soul, and
generously carrying out what pleases you, may always enjoy
your benefits.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
© L'Osservatore
Romano
