According to the Catholic calendar, today is the feast day of St. Joseph, the adoptive, earthly father of our Lord. Even in the Catholic world, Joseph is left a bit short of shrift. We get a lot of “Mary this,“ and “Mary that,“ but what about Joseph? He seems to be regarded in many quarters as little more than a bystander playing no more than a supporting role in the Nativity miracle. Oh, sure, he’s well known as the patron saint of the baby aspirin industry but he deserves better than that.
Simply by virtue of his having been handpicked by God as the human father figure to the boy Jesus, we must assume he was a saintly man of impeccable character. Now Jesus was Jesus, so you’d suppose he was an easier than average kid to raise. Being God made man and without sin, you’d suspect he didn’t back talk a whole lot or grouse about doing his chores. But still, at least by my way of thinking, Joseph was likely not a non-entity in the process of raising the boy into whose stewardship he was placed. He was, by all accounts, an exemplary Jew and apt provider for his little family. (Just how little -- or big -- it actually was is a matter of some controversy but that doesn’t concern us at present.)
While wholly God, Jesus was also wholly human. He was, as we’re told, “God made flesh,” In a very real sense, Jesus took on created form in a human family -- eternal and perfect being occupying a particular place at a particular time in the material matrix of humanity. Just as he experienced hunger and thirst, pain and exhaustion, rest and refreshment, anger, sadness and joy, he must also have lived such human experiences as those of sons of good parents everywhere. Surely Joseph taught him things, set a good example and enjoyed his respect. Jesus was also God, of course, but the divine plan necessitated his being human and one can presume that the human aspect of his growth and maturity was attained in the usual way. Joseph, as a part of that plan, must have had a positive effect on the boy as he grew to manhood.
This unspoken assumption of Joseph’s worthiness is implied (in the Catholic world) in his saintly patronage of fathers everywhere. Even in Protestant circles (which don’t subscribe to haloed circles above the heads of those specially designated as saints) one can safely assume that Joseph must have been a father (though adoptive) whose example can only be hoped to be approached in raising one’s own children. The entire discussion presupposes that, because Jesus could choose his own parents, Joseph must have been worthy of the post.
Before all this, Joseph passed a critical test in extraordinarily difficult circumstances. There he was, a devout Jew and surely known as such to the community at large. He then finds that the alleged virgin to whom he was betrothed was rather prematurely pregnant. In his day and age, and within his culture, this was, to put it mildly, inconvenient. He might have been distressed and, one would imagine, more than a little angry and embarrassed about the whole thing. All he could know for sure was that he wasn’t responsible. Still, being a stand up guy, he didn’t want to shame the girl so he decided to quietly call the marriage off and be on his way.
But when he was told in a powerful dream that things weren’t as they seemed, he believed. In a remarkable example of faith, he accepted -- against all human fathoming -- that everything was alright. Mary had her “fiat” (“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord,” she told the angel, “let it be to me according to your word.”) Joseph, likewise obeyed the angel who spoke to him with like authority and he accepted, in obedience and faith, the will of God as revealed to him. I think this “fiat” of Joseph’s is underplayed and should serve as an example for all of us who hope to do God’s will in our own lives.
So today, in the Catholic church, we remember Joseph, honor him and ask his prayers to help us become better, more obedient men in the service of God’s divine plan. And for those of us with children, to bid him raise us up before the Lord that we might be made worthy of the gift of fatherhood -- to be like him, that is, worthy of the post.
posted by cjamster @ 8:51 PM
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