Dear Brothers and Sisters,
1. In popular Christian tradition the month of March is dedicated to St Joseph, whose liturgical feast we celebrated on 19 March.
Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is patron of the universal Church and enjoys special veneration among the People of God, as is also attested by the great number of Christians who bear his name. Ten years ago I dedicated an Apostolic Exhortation to his person and mission as Guardian of the Redeemer and of the Church, which today I would like to offer again for everyone's reflection during this last year of preparation for the Great Jubilee, dedicated precisely to God the Father. In Joseph, called to be the earthly father of the incarnate Word, the divine fatherhood is reflected in a most extraordinary way.
2. Joseph is the father of Jesus because he is really Mary's husband. She conceived virginally through God's action, but the child is also the son of Joseph, her lawful husband. This is why in the Gospel both are called the "parents" of Jesus (Lk 2:27, 41).
Through the exercise of his fatherhood, Joseph cooperates, in the fullness of time, in the great mystery of salvation (cf. Redemptoris Custos, n. 8). "His fatherhood is expressed concretely in his having made his life a service ... to the mystery of the Incarnation and to the redemptive mission connected with it; ... in having turned his human vocation to domestic love into a superhuman oblation of self, an oblation of his heart and all his abilities into love placed at the service of the Messiah growing up in his house" (ibid.). To this end, God shared his own fatherly love with Joseph, that love "from [which] every family in heaven and on earth is named" (Eph 3:15).
Like every child, Jesus learned about life and how to act from his parents. How could we not think, with deep wonder, that he must have developed the human aspect of his perfect obedience to the Father's will particularly by following the example of his father Joseph, "a just man" (cf. Mt 1:19)?
3. Today I would like to invoke the heavenly protection of St Joseph on all fathers and on their duties in family life. I also commend to him Bishops and priests, who are entrusted with the service of spiritual and pastoral fatherhood in the ecclesial Family. By concretely fulfilling their responsibilities, may each of them reflect God's provident and faithful love. May we obtain this through St Joseph and Blessed Mary, Queen of the family and Mother of the Church.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Thursday, September 29, 2011
From the General Audience of August 21, 1996 - Blessed John Paul II
1. In presenting Mary as a "virgin" the Gospel of Luke adds that she was "betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David" (Lk 1:27). These two pieces of information at first sight seem contradictory.
It should be noted that the Greek word used in this passage does not indicate the situation of a woman who has contracted marriage and therefore lives in the marital state, but that of betrothal. Unlike what occurs in modern cultures, however, the ancient Jewish custom of betrothal provided for a contract and normally had definitive value: it actually introduced the betrothed to the marital state, even if the marriage was brought to full completion only when the young man took the girl to his home.
At the time of the Annunciation Mary thus had the status of one betrothed. We can wonder why she would accept betrothal, since she had the intention of remaining a virgin forever. Luke is aware of this difficulty, but merely notes the situation without offering any explanation. The fact that the Evangelist, while stressing Mary's intention of virginity, also presents her as Joseph's spouse, is a sign of the historical reliability of the two pieces of information.
Joseph was called to co-operate in saving plan
2. It may be presumed that at the time of their betrothal there was an understanding between Joseph and Mary about the plan to live as a virgin. Moreover, the Holy Spirit, who had inspired Mary to choose virginity in view of the mystery of the Incarnation and who wanted the latter to come about in a family setting suited to the Child's growth, was quite able to instil in Joseph the ideal of virginity as well.
The angel of the Lord appeared in a dream and said to him: "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit" (Mt 1:20). Thus he received confirmation that he was called to live his marriage in a completely special way. Through virginal communion with the woman chosen to give birth to Jesus, God calls him to co-operate in carrying out his plan of salvation.
The type of marriage to which the Holy Spirit led Mary and Joseph can only be understood in the context of the saving plan and of a lofty spirituality. The concrete realization of the mystery of the Incarnation called for a virgin birth which would highlight the divine sonship and, at the same time, for a family that could provide for the normal development of the Child's personality.
Precisely in view of their contribution to the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word, Joseph and Mary received the grace of living both the charism of virginity and the gift of marriage. Mary and Joseph's communion of virginal love, although a special case linked with the concrete realization of the mystery of the Incarnation, was nevertheless a true marriage (cf. Apostolic Exhortation Redemptoris custos, n. 7).
The difficulty of accepting the sublime mystery of their spousal communion has led some, since the second century, to think of Joseph as advanced in age and to consider him Mary's guardian more than her husband. It is instead a case of supposing that he was not an elderly man at the time, but that his interior perfection, the fruit of grace, led him to live his spousal relationship with Mary with virginal affection.
Leo XIII entrusted entire Church to Joseph's protection
3. Joseph's co-operation in the mystery of the Incarnation also includes exercising the role of Jesus' father. The angel acknowledged this function of his when he appeared in a dream and invited him to name the Child: "She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins" (Mt 1:21).
While excluding physical generation Joseph's fatherhood was something real not apparent. Distinguishing between father and the one who begets, an ancient monograph on Mary's virginity the De Margarita (fourth century) states that "the commitments assumed by the Virgin and by Joseph as husband and wife made it possible for him to be called by this name (father); a father, however, who did not beget". Joseph thus carried out the role of Jesus' father, exercising an authority to which the Redeemer was freely "obedient" (Lk 2:51), contributing to his upbringing and teaching him the carpenter's trade.
Christians have always acknowledged Joseph as the one who lived in intimate communion with Mary and Jesus, concluding that also in death he enjoyed their affectionate, consoling presence. From this constant Christian tradition in many places a special devotion has grown to the Holy Family and, in it, to St Joseph, Guardian of the Redeemer. As everyone knows, Pope Leo XIII entrusted the entire Church to his protection.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Homily by Blessed John Paul II on 19 March 1993, Eucharistic Celebration at the Stadium of Monterotondo (Rome) on the solemnity of Saint Joseph
"He will say to me, 'You are my Father'" (Ps 88:27).
The word of God which the liturgy offers us on today's Solemnity of St. Joseph is very rich. It presents to us the words of the Gospel of St. Luke but, at the same time, it draws from the great treasury of the Old Testament, in particular from the Second Book of Samuel and the Book of Psalms. There is an intimate bond between the Old and the New Testament, which is illustrated clearly and profoundly by St. Paul in the passage from the letter to the Romans proclaimed a short while ago.
Who is the one who, in the words of the Psalm, cries out: "You are my Father"? It is Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. Before these words were spoken by Jesus of Nazareth, however, the psalmist had spoken them precisely in the context of the covenant which Yahweh made with his people. Therefore, they are words addressed to the God of the covenant.
So, you see, it is precisely God, the rock of mankind's salvation to whom Jesus cries out: "You are my Father"! He says this using the word which expresses a son's greatest degree of confidence in his father: "Abba", my father!
2. Abba, my Father! This is what Jesus calls his heavenly Father, thus making it possible for us also to address in like manner the One whose eternal, consubstantial Son he is. Jesus authorizes us to use this expression, to pray to the Father in this way. Today's liturgy introduces us in a significant way into the prayer which the Son of God ceaselessly addresses to the heavenly Father.
At the same time, from his prayerful invocation which sheds light on the fatherhood of God, in some way emerges a special salvific plan concerning the man called Joseph, to whom the eternal Father entrusted a singular participation in his own fatherhood.
Joseph participates in God's fatherhood
"Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife in to your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins" (Mt 1:20-21).
By these words the heavenly Father calls Joseph, a descendant of the house of David, to participate in a special way in his eternal fatherhood. The Son of God, Son of Mary, conceived by the Holy Spirit, will live at Joseph's side. He will be entrusted to his loving fatherhood. He will address Joseph, a human being, as a "father".
3. When Jesus was only 12 years old, did not his mother say in the temple of Jerusalem: "Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety" (Lk 2:48)?
Mary, speaking of Joseph, uses the expression "your father".
On that occasion the response the boy Jesus gave to his parents is quite singular: "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" (Lk 2:49).
In this way Jesus reveals the profound truth of his divine Sonship: the truth concerning the Father who "so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life" (Jn 3:16). The boy Jesus responds to Mary and Joseph: "I must be busy with my Father's affairs".
Although at first glance these words in a certain sense seem to cast a shadow on Joseph's "fatherhood", in reality they show it even more clearly as the loving fatherhood of that singular "descendent of David", Joseph of Nazareth.
4. This, dear brothers and sisters, is the heart of today's liturgical solemnity: the loving fatherhood of St. Joseph. He is the guardian and protector who, together with his vocation to be the foster-father of the Redeemer, received from divine Providence the mission of protecting his growth in wisdom, age and grace.
In the Litany to St. Joseph, we invoke him under wonderful titles. We call him the "Renowned offspring of David", "Light of Patriarchs", "Spouse of the Mother of God", "Chaste guardian of the Virgin", "Foster-father of the Son of God", "Diligent protector of Christ", "Head of the Holy Family".
In an expression which so well summarizes the biblical truth about him, we invoke him as the "Protector of holy Church". This invocation is deeply rooted in New Testament revelation. The Church is, in fact, Christ's Body. Is it not logical then and necessary that he to whom the eternal Father entrusted his Son, should offer the same protection to the Body of Christ which, according to the teaching of the Apostle Paul, is the Church?
5. Today the community of believers throughout the whole world entrust to St. Joseph themselves and their needs at this difficult stage of history as we draw near the end of the second Christian millennium.
We invoke your aid, O wonderful guardian of the Lord: "Diligent protector of Christ", you who are "protector of holy Church".
Today the Church of Sabina also entrusts to you herself and her pastoral plans. Dear brothers and sisters, your Diocese is preparing for the important spiritual appointment of the year 2000 with the pastoral visit which your Bishop will make to the 82 parishes comprising your ecclesial family in the light of the diocesan Synod. May this providential pastoral visit open up in all of you the path of a genuine Synodal mentality.
You are aware of the need to rediscover the mystery of the "Church" as communion and mission, and the heart of your pastoral plan is precisely this: to proclaim to all that Jesus Christ is Lord!
6. With these sentiments I am happy to greet each of you present at this solemn Eucharistic celebration and those who have joined us in spirit. In particular I greet Cardinal Camillo Ruini, my Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome and President of the Italian Episcopal Conference. With affection and esteem I greet the Pastor of your Diocesan community, Bishop Salvatore Boccaccio, together with the priests, his foremost coworkers in the pastoral service of the brethren! To you, dear priests, I would like to offer a word of heartfelt appreciation for the taxing apostolic work you do, which is sometimes not very gratifying, humanly speaking. Always be solidly founded in Christ; in all circumstances you should remember that you are his heralds and witnesses. With Gospel passion take care of the portion of the Christian people entrusted to you and spread the message of salvation, destined for every human person, all about you. In order to have an abundance of joy and Gospel hope to sow, may the communion between you and your Bishop be strengthened so that your common pastoral activity may become ever closer and more effective.
I offer an affectionate greeting to the Apostolic Nuncio in Italy and to the Bishops of Lazio. I also greet you, the dear religious who are actively involved in the various areas of the apostolate in the service of the Gospel. May the Lord reward your every effort and make you radiant signs of his presence in the world.
I am also pleased to offer my deferential greeting to the civil and military authorities, to the representatives of the Provincial Administration of Rome and the Regional Council of Lazio, as well as to all those who have helped to organize this visit, giving me the opportunity in a single day to get to know various interesting localities in the Sabine area.
With particular affection I address you, dear invalids, the privileged witnesses of the cross of Christ, the elderly, and you, the young people whom I see so numerous and so inspired with courageous, ardent missionary enthusiasm. Dear young people, the hope of the Church and the civil community depends on you: Open your hearts to Christ; do not be ensnared by the false allure of consumerism and selfishness. Be apostles of a love without frontiers; be seekers of authentic, liberating truth. Be enthusiastic about Christ
People have a right to dignified work
7. Dear brothers and sisters, my visit today cannot fail to be concerned especially about the family and work, your families and your work: your work in the fields, as well as that done in the factories and workshops.
Unfortunately, in many respects the picture of current family conditions in your region is planning. The crisis of the family institution, connected with growing problems in work, is making itself felt and has serious repercussions on the whole of society. One part of your Diocese, the part closer to Rome, especially is experiencing some of the difficulties of the capital, pressed by "rampant immigration" to new models of life, new demands, a new way of understanding existence. Both parents working or people holding two jobs and the time lost in traffic on overcrowded roads are like so many termites gnawing away at the identity of the family and contribute to the loss of direction among the young people, ever more confused in their basic choices and disappointed in their innermost hopes.
St. Joseph, guardian of the family of Nazareth, look upon the families of this diocesan community! Help them to resolve the many complex problems which make their future uncertain and troubled. People have a right to work that will assure nuclear families of a dignified life; children must be able to enjoy the full, undivided affection of their parents; newlyweds must be in a position to begin their married life with serenity and commitment.
St. Joseph, help families to become the agents of a renewed evangelization, one sustained and accompanied, as your Bishop recalled at the beginning of this celebration, by the witness of charity which begins with the lowly. Thus your diocesan community will grow in missionary openness and concrete solidarity towards those in need. In that context, I thank you for the generous offering which you gave to me on behalf of the African peoples particularly stricken by poverty, violence and hunger.
8. As happened in the family of Nazareth, in St. Joseph's family, make your families privileged places for Christ to meet his brothers and sisters.
In the Litany of St. Joseph we pray as follows: "Glory of home life" "Model of workers".
Under his protection may the family and labor here and everywhere bear fruit to everlasting life, an expression of that covenant which God has made with the whole of humanity in Jesus Christ.
"You are my father"
Joseph, most faithful, to you we turn. Do not cease interceding for us; do not cease interceding for the whole human family!
The word of God which the liturgy offers us on today's Solemnity of St. Joseph is very rich. It presents to us the words of the Gospel of St. Luke but, at the same time, it draws from the great treasury of the Old Testament, in particular from the Second Book of Samuel and the Book of Psalms. There is an intimate bond between the Old and the New Testament, which is illustrated clearly and profoundly by St. Paul in the passage from the letter to the Romans proclaimed a short while ago.
Who is the one who, in the words of the Psalm, cries out: "You are my Father"? It is Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. Before these words were spoken by Jesus of Nazareth, however, the psalmist had spoken them precisely in the context of the covenant which Yahweh made with his people. Therefore, they are words addressed to the God of the covenant.
So, you see, it is precisely God, the rock of mankind's salvation to whom Jesus cries out: "You are my Father"! He says this using the word which expresses a son's greatest degree of confidence in his father: "Abba", my father!
2. Abba, my Father! This is what Jesus calls his heavenly Father, thus making it possible for us also to address in like manner the One whose eternal, consubstantial Son he is. Jesus authorizes us to use this expression, to pray to the Father in this way. Today's liturgy introduces us in a significant way into the prayer which the Son of God ceaselessly addresses to the heavenly Father.
At the same time, from his prayerful invocation which sheds light on the fatherhood of God, in some way emerges a special salvific plan concerning the man called Joseph, to whom the eternal Father entrusted a singular participation in his own fatherhood.
Joseph participates in God's fatherhood
"Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife in to your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins" (Mt 1:20-21).
By these words the heavenly Father calls Joseph, a descendant of the house of David, to participate in a special way in his eternal fatherhood. The Son of God, Son of Mary, conceived by the Holy Spirit, will live at Joseph's side. He will be entrusted to his loving fatherhood. He will address Joseph, a human being, as a "father".
3. When Jesus was only 12 years old, did not his mother say in the temple of Jerusalem: "Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety" (Lk 2:48)?
Mary, speaking of Joseph, uses the expression "your father".
On that occasion the response the boy Jesus gave to his parents is quite singular: "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" (Lk 2:49).
In this way Jesus reveals the profound truth of his divine Sonship: the truth concerning the Father who "so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life" (Jn 3:16). The boy Jesus responds to Mary and Joseph: "I must be busy with my Father's affairs".
Although at first glance these words in a certain sense seem to cast a shadow on Joseph's "fatherhood", in reality they show it even more clearly as the loving fatherhood of that singular "descendent of David", Joseph of Nazareth.
4. This, dear brothers and sisters, is the heart of today's liturgical solemnity: the loving fatherhood of St. Joseph. He is the guardian and protector who, together with his vocation to be the foster-father of the Redeemer, received from divine Providence the mission of protecting his growth in wisdom, age and grace.
In the Litany to St. Joseph, we invoke him under wonderful titles. We call him the "Renowned offspring of David", "Light of Patriarchs", "Spouse of the Mother of God", "Chaste guardian of the Virgin", "Foster-father of the Son of God", "Diligent protector of Christ", "Head of the Holy Family".
In an expression which so well summarizes the biblical truth about him, we invoke him as the "Protector of holy Church". This invocation is deeply rooted in New Testament revelation. The Church is, in fact, Christ's Body. Is it not logical then and necessary that he to whom the eternal Father entrusted his Son, should offer the same protection to the Body of Christ which, according to the teaching of the Apostle Paul, is the Church?
We call upon you, St. Joseph
5. Today the community of believers throughout the whole world entrust to St. Joseph themselves and their needs at this difficult stage of history as we draw near the end of the second Christian millennium.
We invoke your aid, O wonderful guardian of the Lord: "Diligent protector of Christ", you who are "protector of holy Church".
Today the Church of Sabina also entrusts to you herself and her pastoral plans. Dear brothers and sisters, your Diocese is preparing for the important spiritual appointment of the year 2000 with the pastoral visit which your Bishop will make to the 82 parishes comprising your ecclesial family in the light of the diocesan Synod. May this providential pastoral visit open up in all of you the path of a genuine Synodal mentality.
You are aware of the need to rediscover the mystery of the "Church" as communion and mission, and the heart of your pastoral plan is precisely this: to proclaim to all that Jesus Christ is Lord!
6. With these sentiments I am happy to greet each of you present at this solemn Eucharistic celebration and those who have joined us in spirit. In particular I greet Cardinal Camillo Ruini, my Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome and President of the Italian Episcopal Conference. With affection and esteem I greet the Pastor of your Diocesan community, Bishop Salvatore Boccaccio, together with the priests, his foremost coworkers in the pastoral service of the brethren! To you, dear priests, I would like to offer a word of heartfelt appreciation for the taxing apostolic work you do, which is sometimes not very gratifying, humanly speaking. Always be solidly founded in Christ; in all circumstances you should remember that you are his heralds and witnesses. With Gospel passion take care of the portion of the Christian people entrusted to you and spread the message of salvation, destined for every human person, all about you. In order to have an abundance of joy and Gospel hope to sow, may the communion between you and your Bishop be strengthened so that your common pastoral activity may become ever closer and more effective.
I offer an affectionate greeting to the Apostolic Nuncio in Italy and to the Bishops of Lazio. I also greet you, the dear religious who are actively involved in the various areas of the apostolate in the service of the Gospel. May the Lord reward your every effort and make you radiant signs of his presence in the world.
I am also pleased to offer my deferential greeting to the civil and military authorities, to the representatives of the Provincial Administration of Rome and the Regional Council of Lazio, as well as to all those who have helped to organize this visit, giving me the opportunity in a single day to get to know various interesting localities in the Sabine area.
With particular affection I address you, dear invalids, the privileged witnesses of the cross of Christ, the elderly, and you, the young people whom I see so numerous and so inspired with courageous, ardent missionary enthusiasm. Dear young people, the hope of the Church and the civil community depends on you: Open your hearts to Christ; do not be ensnared by the false allure of consumerism and selfishness. Be apostles of a love without frontiers; be seekers of authentic, liberating truth. Be enthusiastic about Christ
People have a right to dignified work
7. Dear brothers and sisters, my visit today cannot fail to be concerned especially about the family and work, your families and your work: your work in the fields, as well as that done in the factories and workshops.
Unfortunately, in many respects the picture of current family conditions in your region is planning. The crisis of the family institution, connected with growing problems in work, is making itself felt and has serious repercussions on the whole of society. One part of your Diocese, the part closer to Rome, especially is experiencing some of the difficulties of the capital, pressed by "rampant immigration" to new models of life, new demands, a new way of understanding existence. Both parents working or people holding two jobs and the time lost in traffic on overcrowded roads are like so many termites gnawing away at the identity of the family and contribute to the loss of direction among the young people, ever more confused in their basic choices and disappointed in their innermost hopes.
St. Joseph, guardian of the family of Nazareth, look upon the families of this diocesan community! Help them to resolve the many complex problems which make their future uncertain and troubled. People have a right to work that will assure nuclear families of a dignified life; children must be able to enjoy the full, undivided affection of their parents; newlyweds must be in a position to begin their married life with serenity and commitment.
St. Joseph, help families to become the agents of a renewed evangelization, one sustained and accompanied, as your Bishop recalled at the beginning of this celebration, by the witness of charity which begins with the lowly. Thus your diocesan community will grow in missionary openness and concrete solidarity towards those in need. In that context, I thank you for the generous offering which you gave to me on behalf of the African peoples particularly stricken by poverty, violence and hunger.
8. As happened in the family of Nazareth, in St. Joseph's family, make your families privileged places for Christ to meet his brothers and sisters.
In the Litany of St. Joseph we pray as follows: "Glory of home life" "Model of workers".
Under his protection may the family and labor here and everywhere bear fruit to everlasting life, an expression of that covenant which God has made with the whole of humanity in Jesus Christ.
"You are my father"
Joseph, most faithful, to you we turn. Do not cease interceding for us; do not cease interceding for the whole human family!
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
"The Excellence Of St. Joseph Over All Other Saints" exerpted from Chapter XL of Christ Our Savior by Rev. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P.
The Excellence Of St. Joseph Over All Other Saints
Finally, something must be said of St. Joseph's predestination and of his eminent sanctity. The doctrine according to which St. Joseph among the saints in heaven is the highest after the Blessed Virgin Mary, is the quasi-commonly accepted teaching in the Church, especially from the sixteenth century.[2532] It was approved by Leo XIII in proclaiming St. Joseph patron of the universal Church, who wrote: "Certainly the dignity of Mary as the Mother of God in heaven is so great that nothing greater can be attributed to her. But, because there intervened between St. Joseph and the most Blessed Virgin Mary a marital bond, there is no doubt that to the most distinguished dignity whereby the Mother of God very far surpasses all creatures, it came about that nobody is greater than St. Joseph. Marriage is a partnership and a necessity that is the greatest of all, which by its nature has added to it the mutual communication of goods. Wherefore, if God gave Joseph as spouse to the Virgin, He assuredly gave him not only as companion in life, as witness of her virginity, guardian of her virtue, but also as sharer by this conjugal bond in her high dignity."[2533]
The Church invokes St. Joseph immediately after the Blessed Virgin Mary and before the apostles in the oration of the Mass.[2534] She also addresses him with the following titles: "St. Joseph, light of patriarchs, spouse of the Mother of God, chaste guardian of the Virgin, foster father of the Son of God, diligent protector of Christ, head of the holy family..., glory of home life, guardian of virgins, pillar of families, solace of the wretched, hope of the sick, patron of the dying, terror of demons, protector of the holy Church, pray for us."[2535]
No one is greater among the saints after the Mother of the Savior.
But what is the principle of this doctrine about the excellence of St. Joseph, admitted for the last five centuries? It is that proportionate sanctity is required for an exceptional divine mission, as in the case of Christ, His holy Mother, the apostles, founders of orders, and others who are immediately chosen by God.
But Joseph was predestined for an exceptional mission, one that is unique in the world and throughout all time, namely, that he should be the spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the foster father of the Son of God, and that he should have in the guardianship of the Word incarnate the heart of a father, full of benevolence and love. There is nothing more exalted after the dignity of divine motherhood. Therefore St. Joseph received sanctity in proportion to this mission, and this sanctity increased until the end of his life. In fact, St. Joseph was probably predestined to his exceptional mission before he was predestined to glory, for there is no distinction between his predestination and the decree of the Incarnation, which is directed to the Incarnation not in a general way but as to something individualized, namely, as concerning the incarnation of the Word by the Virgin Mary "espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David,"[2536] This decree includes both Christ's predestination to be the natural Son of God, predestination of Mary to be the Mother of God, predestination of Joseph to the protection of the Son incarnate and His Mother. Hence it can be said that just as Christ was predestined to be the natural Son of God before He was predestined to glory, and the Blessed Virgin to divine motherhood before glory, so it seems that St. Joseph was first predestined to his exceptional mission, on account of which he was afterward predestined to a very high degree of glory and grace. The reason for this conclusion is that Christ's predestination as man to be the natural Son of God, precedes the predestination of any of the elect, because Christ is the first of all the predestined.[2537] But Christ's predestination to be the natural Son of God is nothing but the decree of the Incarnation thus fulfilled here and now. But this decree implies Mary's predestination to divine motherhood and Joseph's predestination to the protection of the Son of God incarnate and of His Mother.
Monsignor G. Sinibaldi says: "The mystery of St. Joseph is in close relation with the order of the hypostatic union as so constituted.... The cooperation of St. Joseph is not equal to Mary's cooperation. Whereas Mary's cooperation is intrinsic, physical, immediate, St. Joseph's is extrinsic, moral, through Mary's mediation; but it is a true cooperation."[2538]
It has recently been asked exactly in what sense St. Joseph is called father of Jesus, for example, when the Evangelist says: "The child Jesus remained in Jerusalem, and His parents knew it not.... And His mother said to Him: Son, why hast thou done so to us? Behold Thy father and I have sought Thee sorrowing."[2539]
Reply. St. Joseph is not called father in the strict sense. Three things are required to be father in the strict sense, namely, that he produce of his own substance, one like himself in species, and principally, as St. Thomas shows in many places,[2540] that the father gives to his son three things, namely, being, nourishment, and education. If he gives being, he is already father in the strict sense, even though his son be illegitimate; but to be father in the full sense he must give not only being, but nourishment, good education, and instruction. Father in the strict sense is attributed analogically to the eternal Father because of the eternal generation of His only-begotten Son, and to the earthly father because of his temporal generation.
But many times the term "father, " is not attributed in the strict sense as in the cases of adoptive father, spiritual father, foster father intellectual father. Among these paternities not taken in the strict sense the most exalted is the paternity of St. Joseph toward Jesus. It is a paternity absolutely of its own kind, which transcends common adoptive paternity and foster paternity. St. Thomas says: "The child is not called the good of marriage only inasmuch as it is the result of marriage, but inasmuch as it is received and educated in marriage. And so the good of the Blessed Virgin Mary's marriage was that child, not taken in the first sense; neither a child born in adultery nor an adopted son who is educated in matrimony is the good of marriage, because matrimony is not ordered to the education of those, as this marriage between Mary and Joseph was ordered especially to this, that the child be both received and educated in marriage."[2541] Thus St. Joseph's paternity was absolutely of its own kind and therefore Joseph received from God, as Bossuet says, a paternal heart, so that with the greatest of affection, he might take care of the Word incarnate, the Son of God, who was truly and properly the Son of his consort, the Blessed Virgin Mary.[2542]
2532cf. Dict. de theol. cath., art. "Joseph."
2533Encyclical Quamquam pluries, August 15, 1889
2534A cunctis
2535Litany of St. Joseph
2536Luke 1:26f
2537cf. IIIa, q. 24, a. 1-4.
2538La Grandezza di S. Giuseppe, pp. 36f.
2539Luke 2:43, 48
2540cf. Tabula aurea, under the words "Father, " no. 3, and "Sonship, " nos. 6, 11
2541cf. Com. in IV Sent., d. 30, q. 2, a. 2, ad 4.
2542This has been more fully explained by us in the Angelicum of October 1, 1945, under the title, "De paternitate Sancti Joseph, " and in the book, The Mother of the Savior, pp. 342-61: "The predestination of St. Joseph and his eminent sanctity."
Monday, September 26, 2011
Homily by Blessed John Paul II on 19 March 1992, Pastoral visit to the Archdiocese of Sorrento-Castellammare di Stabia on the Solemnity of Saint Joseph
1. "I have made you father of many nations" (Rom 4:17). Today, the Solemnity of St. Joseph, the Church returns to the origins of God's saving covenant with humanity. In order to understand what Matthew's Gospel tells us about Joseph of Nazareth, it is necessary to pay attention to the words God once addressed to Abraham: "I have made you father of many nations." Abraham was the father of Isaac according to the flesh. Of him was born Jacob, whom he called Israel.
This human genealogy has great meaning in holy Scripture. More important, however, is the genealogy of faith. Through faith Abraham became the father of many nations. In fact, the promise was given him "in view of the justice that comes from faith", as St. Paul writes in the Letter to the Romans (4:13).
2. In this genealogy, this inheritance -- an inheritance through faith -- Joseph is inserted, the carpenter of Nazareth, the husband of Mary. Matthew's text shows us Joseph's faith at a crucial point in the history of salvation. As one time long before, Abraham had accepted in faith the message of God's saving promise, so too Joseph accepted the truth about that promise's fulfillment in Mary. He believed that she was "with child through the power of the Holy Spirit" (Mt 1:18). He believed as she herself, Mary, believed the angel's message at the moment of the Annunciation. He believed in God because for him nothing is impossible (cf. Lk 1:37). For him, the One who "restores the dead to life and calls into being those things which had not been" (Rom 4:17).
Thus Joseph believed and through this faith he not only entered into the great heritage of faith which has its origin in Abraham but, in the context of that heredity, fulfilled a call and mission which was totally exceptional, which was brought about around Mary and in her.
3. "Joseph, son of David, have no fear about taking Mary as your wife. It is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived this child" (Mt 1:20).
At this moment a new reality is given to the words which the God of Israel had spoken many years before to David through the prophet Nathan: "I will raise up your heir after you . . . . I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me" (2 Sam 7:12, 14). "He shall say of me, 'You are my father' "(Ps 89 [88]:27).
Jesus, who was born of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit fulfilled this prophecy. He alone of all the sons of man, could cry out to God: "Abba," "Father!" Only the Son, the only-begotten, could cry out "Abba" to the Father. Jesus Christ taught us and even allows all of us to call God "Father," "our Father" (Mt 6:9).
The genealogy of Joseph of Nazareth indicates his Davidic origins: he was of the house and family of David (cf. Lk 1:27); however, it was not his genealogy according to the flesh but rather that of the spirit, which made him, like Abraham, the "father of many nations." Like Abraham, Joseph too had faith in God.
Jesus of Nazareth, who calls God "Abba," "Father," as the firstborn of many brothers and sisters (cf. Rom 8:29), through Joseph's faith also granted access to the divine fatherhood to all those who, together with him, call God "our Father."
The whole Church is built on the fatherhood of Joseph who in faith participates in a special manner in this spiritual genealogy: from the human point of view it is a putative fatherhood; from the viewpoint of the divine mystery, it is fatherhood in the Holy Spirit.
The whole Church venerates Joseph of Nazareth in a singular and extraordinary way.
4. It has become a well-established tradition for the Pope to make a pilgrimage on the feast of St. Joseph to visit different cities in Italy. Today he is in the Archdiocese of Sorrent-Castelianunare di Stabia together with St. Joseph on a pilgrimage to a special shrine, the shrine of the family and work. The origins of that shrine are described in the Gospel, especially in the accounts of Matthew and Luke, and find their first expression in the home of Nazareth and the workshop of the one who became "Redemptoris custos."
It is a shrine which integrally belongs to the mystery of the incarnation. It also belongs to the reality of the Church. It is the most common of all shrines, present everywhere in a certain sense: wherever human life is born and formed within the family and work community. Work has many forms, but it is there that we can rediscover the heritage of the home of Nazareth.
This shrine hides the divine mystery of the incarnation. He of whom the Father says, "You are my son, today I have begotten you" (Heb 5:5), as the Son of Mary, is its center.
Joseph is the guardian of this ineffable divine mystery. In him too the words which God once addressed to Abraham are fulfilled: "I have made you father of many nations."
Through faith Joseph is a father. Putting in focus the particular bond existing between the family and human work -- a sacred bond -- we have been granted to participate in the mystery of the holiness of God through what constitutes the foundation and content of the life of all people.
This shrine to which the Church goes on pilgrimage with her patron, Joseph of Nazareth, on 19 March each year is truly great, and extremely vast.
5. With these sentiments I express my joy at being here with you today and I think you for your warm welcome. I particularly greet the Pastor of your Archdiocese, Archbishop Felice Cece, the priests, religious and laity actively involved in the apostolate and the many members of the Christian family of Sorrento and Castellammare DI Stabia. I also greet the civil, military and political authorities present here. With affection I especially greet the families an d young people.
Dear families, there are many problems in your area, but there is a great wealth which you can count on: the profound, sacred sense of the family. A strong family can be the cure for many serious, threatening problems; founded on the rock of religious and moral principles, it is an anchor of salvation capable of saving from shipwreck the best of humanity's energies, putting them into play for the restructuring of the social fabric. Do not give in to the culture of death. Do not give in to the force of violence. Do not grow accustomed to watching helplessly as crime spreads, the crime which undermines the structures of your society. Trust in God's help and courageously fight together against evil.
Christian families, you should be the treasure and refuge of your society.
Strengthen your communion, giving it new life at the wellsprings of faith. Welcome children as the fruit and seal of love Every child who is born, with his or her unique identity, is a gift of the Lord and bears his image Be concerned for their moral and religious upbringing; set them off on their journey of faith with your words, and even more, with your example.
May your homes be both shrines of life and schools of persevering, selfless giving in the service of the needy: of the sick, the elderly, the marginalized, children.
May they be domestic churches where young people, looking to their parents, can discover the meaning of their own particular vocation. As the Holy Family was the cradle of the Church, so too every Christian family is called to be the cradle of lay vocations and those of special consecration.
Dear families, young people are looking for great, demanding ideals. Help them to dedicate themselves ceaselessly to the construction of the civilization of love.
6. And you, young people, be worthy of the best traditions of your Church, treasuring the great spiritual resources which characterize it.
Today you often feel forced to deal with an ambiguous, contradictory culture. Along with witnesses of love you see violence; your desire to build a better society, which the Gospel arouses in you, is countered by many consumeristic allurements which paralyze your every generous commitment.
You are called to make a choice, to choose what is perhaps the longer, more difficult path; however, it is the only one that leads to the heights of full humanity and holiness.
Christ is with you, let yourselves be led by him along his ways. Avoid the deceptive, dangerous shortcuts that lead to dissatisfaction of the heart and stifling of the spirit.
Young people, be truly young through and through. Draw back from the easy but tragic mirages of pleasure, money and power. God is youth and only the person who lives in him possesses the secret of youth.
7. Dear brothers and sisters, in the course of today's liturgy we are once again shown the design of Providence revealed in the shrine of Nazareth.
St. Joseph, spouse of the Virgin Mary, believed and, like Abraham, he hoped against all hope.
Dear St. Joseph, help us too to trust in God. Always.
Help us to believe in the fulfillment of the divine promises.
Help us too to say with him: "O Lord, you are faithful to your promises" (Resp. Psalm).
This human genealogy has great meaning in holy Scripture. More important, however, is the genealogy of faith. Through faith Abraham became the father of many nations. In fact, the promise was given him "in view of the justice that comes from faith", as St. Paul writes in the Letter to the Romans (4:13).
2. In this genealogy, this inheritance -- an inheritance through faith -- Joseph is inserted, the carpenter of Nazareth, the husband of Mary. Matthew's text shows us Joseph's faith at a crucial point in the history of salvation. As one time long before, Abraham had accepted in faith the message of God's saving promise, so too Joseph accepted the truth about that promise's fulfillment in Mary. He believed that she was "with child through the power of the Holy Spirit" (Mt 1:18). He believed as she herself, Mary, believed the angel's message at the moment of the Annunciation. He believed in God because for him nothing is impossible (cf. Lk 1:37). For him, the One who "restores the dead to life and calls into being those things which had not been" (Rom 4:17).
Thus Joseph believed and through this faith he not only entered into the great heritage of faith which has its origin in Abraham but, in the context of that heredity, fulfilled a call and mission which was totally exceptional, which was brought about around Mary and in her.
3. "Joseph, son of David, have no fear about taking Mary as your wife. It is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived this child" (Mt 1:20).
At this moment a new reality is given to the words which the God of Israel had spoken many years before to David through the prophet Nathan: "I will raise up your heir after you . . . . I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me" (2 Sam 7:12, 14). "He shall say of me, 'You are my father' "(Ps 89 [88]:27).
Jesus, who was born of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit fulfilled this prophecy. He alone of all the sons of man, could cry out to God: "Abba," "Father!" Only the Son, the only-begotten, could cry out "Abba" to the Father. Jesus Christ taught us and even allows all of us to call God "Father," "our Father" (Mt 6:9).
The genealogy of Joseph of Nazareth indicates his Davidic origins: he was of the house and family of David (cf. Lk 1:27); however, it was not his genealogy according to the flesh but rather that of the spirit, which made him, like Abraham, the "father of many nations." Like Abraham, Joseph too had faith in God.
Jesus of Nazareth, who calls God "Abba," "Father," as the firstborn of many brothers and sisters (cf. Rom 8:29), through Joseph's faith also granted access to the divine fatherhood to all those who, together with him, call God "our Father."
The whole Church is built on the fatherhood of Joseph who in faith participates in a special manner in this spiritual genealogy: from the human point of view it is a putative fatherhood; from the viewpoint of the divine mystery, it is fatherhood in the Holy Spirit.
The whole Church venerates Joseph of Nazareth in a singular and extraordinary way.
4. It has become a well-established tradition for the Pope to make a pilgrimage on the feast of St. Joseph to visit different cities in Italy. Today he is in the Archdiocese of Sorrent-Castelianunare di Stabia together with St. Joseph on a pilgrimage to a special shrine, the shrine of the family and work. The origins of that shrine are described in the Gospel, especially in the accounts of Matthew and Luke, and find their first expression in the home of Nazareth and the workshop of the one who became "Redemptoris custos."
It is a shrine which integrally belongs to the mystery of the incarnation. It also belongs to the reality of the Church. It is the most common of all shrines, present everywhere in a certain sense: wherever human life is born and formed within the family and work community. Work has many forms, but it is there that we can rediscover the heritage of the home of Nazareth.
This shrine hides the divine mystery of the incarnation. He of whom the Father says, "You are my son, today I have begotten you" (Heb 5:5), as the Son of Mary, is its center.
Joseph is the guardian of this ineffable divine mystery. In him too the words which God once addressed to Abraham are fulfilled: "I have made you father of many nations."
Through faith Joseph is a father. Putting in focus the particular bond existing between the family and human work -- a sacred bond -- we have been granted to participate in the mystery of the holiness of God through what constitutes the foundation and content of the life of all people.
This shrine to which the Church goes on pilgrimage with her patron, Joseph of Nazareth, on 19 March each year is truly great, and extremely vast.
5. With these sentiments I express my joy at being here with you today and I think you for your warm welcome. I particularly greet the Pastor of your Archdiocese, Archbishop Felice Cece, the priests, religious and laity actively involved in the apostolate and the many members of the Christian family of Sorrento and Castellammare DI Stabia. I also greet the civil, military and political authorities present here. With affection I especially greet the families an d young people.
Dear families, there are many problems in your area, but there is a great wealth which you can count on: the profound, sacred sense of the family. A strong family can be the cure for many serious, threatening problems; founded on the rock of religious and moral principles, it is an anchor of salvation capable of saving from shipwreck the best of humanity's energies, putting them into play for the restructuring of the social fabric. Do not give in to the culture of death. Do not give in to the force of violence. Do not grow accustomed to watching helplessly as crime spreads, the crime which undermines the structures of your society. Trust in God's help and courageously fight together against evil.
Christian families, you should be the treasure and refuge of your society.
Strengthen your communion, giving it new life at the wellsprings of faith. Welcome children as the fruit and seal of love Every child who is born, with his or her unique identity, is a gift of the Lord and bears his image Be concerned for their moral and religious upbringing; set them off on their journey of faith with your words, and even more, with your example.
May your homes be both shrines of life and schools of persevering, selfless giving in the service of the needy: of the sick, the elderly, the marginalized, children.
May they be domestic churches where young people, looking to their parents, can discover the meaning of their own particular vocation. As the Holy Family was the cradle of the Church, so too every Christian family is called to be the cradle of lay vocations and those of special consecration.
Dear families, young people are looking for great, demanding ideals. Help them to dedicate themselves ceaselessly to the construction of the civilization of love.
6. And you, young people, be worthy of the best traditions of your Church, treasuring the great spiritual resources which characterize it.
Today you often feel forced to deal with an ambiguous, contradictory culture. Along with witnesses of love you see violence; your desire to build a better society, which the Gospel arouses in you, is countered by many consumeristic allurements which paralyze your every generous commitment.
You are called to make a choice, to choose what is perhaps the longer, more difficult path; however, it is the only one that leads to the heights of full humanity and holiness.
Christ is with you, let yourselves be led by him along his ways. Avoid the deceptive, dangerous shortcuts that lead to dissatisfaction of the heart and stifling of the spirit.
Young people, be truly young through and through. Draw back from the easy but tragic mirages of pleasure, money and power. God is youth and only the person who lives in him possesses the secret of youth.
7. Dear brothers and sisters, in the course of today's liturgy we are once again shown the design of Providence revealed in the shrine of Nazareth.
St. Joseph, spouse of the Virgin Mary, believed and, like Abraham, he hoped against all hope.
Dear St. Joseph, help us too to trust in God. Always.
Help us to believe in the fulfillment of the divine promises.
Help us too to say with him: "O Lord, you are faithful to your promises" (Resp. Psalm).
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Homily by Blessed John Paul II on 19 March 1987, Eucharistic concelebration in Civitavecchia (Italy)
1. "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife" (Mt 1-20).
These are key words in the life of St Joseph, descendant of David. With them the eternal Father entrusts to a man--to the carpenter of Nazareth--a great mystery of God.
This mystery was entrusted first to the Virgin, also of the town of Nazareth, who, at the moment of the Annunciation of this same mystery, was already publicly betrothed to Joseph. She was, then, according to the law of Israel, his spouse. But she did not yet dwell in his house. She did not know man, as she herself declares to the angel (cf. Lk 1:34). To her, then, first of all, was entrusted the mystery of the Incarnation. The mystery of the Son "of the same substance of the Father": of the Son of God who, by the power of the Holy Spirit, was made man, so as to accomplish the eternal will of the Father. This Virgin of Nazareth was chosen to be his mother.
2. Thus the divine mystery of the Incarnation was entrusted to Mary before any other person. In her, "the Word was made flesh" (cf. Jn 1:14), when, during the Annunciation, she submitted her will to the inscrutable designs of God. And she, first of all, deserved to be called blessed: "Blessed is she who believed" (Lk 1:45 from that time forward she deserved to be called blessed by all generations (cf. Lk 1:48).
Joseph becomes a participant in the same mystery of God, together with Mary, after her, as the Gospel of today's solemnity testifies: "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). The name "Jesus" in fact means "God saves", and therefore: "Savior".
To Joseph, then, to the carpenter of Nazareth, was entrusted, as to Mary, the same mystery of God. A great mystery, the mystery eternally hidden in God, a mystery that became flesh" in man's history and was revealed to human hearts: to the eyes of faith.
3. We could say of Joseph what was said of Mary by her cousin Elizabeth: "Blessed are you who believed".
Actually the liturgy of today's feast compares Joseph's faith to that of Abraham, whom the Apostle speaks of as the father of our faith (cf. Rom 4:16-18). "I have made you the father of many nations", we read in the Letter to the Romans (4:17). In truth, harking back to the faith of Abraham are not only the followers of the Old Covenant, the Israelites, not only Christians, but also the Muslims.
Joseph, a humble carpenter of Nazareth is heir to this faith. At the same time, the God already known to Israel through the faith of Abraham unveils for him, as he had first done for Mary, the mystery that was not revealed to Abraham, the mystery for which the Old Testament was gradually preparing all generations.
Joseph, a son of Israel, a just man, becomes the trustee of the divine mystery, which has entered into his life as a reality, which has come under the roof of his house--through Mary.
Joseph remained faithful to the mystery entrusted to him by God.
4. Today, 19 March, the Church gathers around Joseph of Nazareth. The Church admires the simplicity and the depth of his faith. She admires and venerates his rectitude, his humility, his courage. How many values God entrusted to Joseph in his humble and hidden life as an artisan of Nazareth! He entrusted to him his own eternal Son, who in the house of Joseph embraced all that constitutes the truth of the Son of man. To Joseph God entrusted Mary, her virginity and her maternity--her virginal maternity. He entrusted to him the Holy Family. God entrusted to Joseph what is most holy in the whole history of creation, and that humble man, that carpenter, did not disappoint God's trust. To the very end he showed himself faithful, thoughtful, provident, solicitous--after the model of the eternal Father himself.
Therefore Joseph has become the man in whom the whole Church trusts. This regards the entire life of the Church and all that pertains to her earthly mission. In a particular way it regards two large areas of human life in which the Church performs her evangelical service:
5. Since I spoke on the theme of work this morning in my meeting with workers, I now wish to limit myself to some considerations regarding the themes of conjugal and family love.
The importance of this question and the frequency with which our society strays from the fundamental principles and values that must guide human conduct in this area are well known. It is necessary that all believers make an ever renewed effort to convince consciences, both through words and example. It is necessary to emphasize continually the inalienable values without which life ceases to be worthy of man and society finds itself threatened at its very roots.
6. Today's feast of St Joseph is in a particular way the feast of the Christian family. According to a popular and by now prevailing custom, it is also "Father's Day". This is easily understood, since St Joseph is a marvelous model for fathers throughout the world.
Yet today is not only the feast of fathers: it is also the feast of mothers, children, grandparents, in their mutual and dutiful relations of love, respect and esteem. It is the feast of family ties and affections in their deep and spontaneous naturalness and in their exalted ethical, civil and religious meaning. In fact, the feast of the family is also, indissolubly, the feast of human life, which in the family arises, is watched over, protected, brought up, educated, launched towards maturity and towards its responsible entry into the Church and society.
7. We see then how the family must be the first school of love and solidarity, the first school of all the human and Christian virtues. Great, then, is the responsibility of parents! The family is a community of love where every member feels understood, accepted and loved and seeks to understand, accept and love the others.
The family is a community of life, it is open to life. Within it, therefore, there is excluded not only everything that offends the coming into being and the development of human life in the physical sense, but also those acts which degrade its moral value, such as humiliations, lack of respect, and acts of negligence especially with regard to elderly, sick or handicapped members.
The love and life that blossom in the family must not be closed in upon the limited context of the family itself, but they must be diffused in concrete choices of ecclesial, civic and social service: the family is open to service.
8. The family is open not only to human values, but also to the higher values of the spirit. It in fact has a fundamental role in the first proclamation of the faith and in the Christian initiation of the children. The activity carried out by parents in the religious education of their children is a magnificent expression of the common priesthood of the faithful. In this the parents are irreplaceable instruments of the grace that God wishes to communicate to souls for their salvation.
The family is a community of prayer: it is important not only to pray, but to pray together. In Christian families there must be gatherings for prayer, so that together its members may be nourished, not by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
The special unifying moment for the family, moreover, is that of shared participation in the Holy Mass and the sacraments on Sundays. As for every Christian community, beginning with the universal Church, it is in the Holy Eucharist that the family finds the center of its spiritual equilibrium and the perennial source of its growth and vitality.
Thanks be to God, there are many families--especially within the framework of certain lay movements--who live their Christianity in depth in this way.
9. "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife".
Joseph, Spouse of the Virgin Mother of God, teach us unceasingly all the divine truth and all the human dignity contained in the vocation of spouses and parents!
St Joseph, obtain from God that we may cooperate, with constancy, with the grace of the great sacrament in which man and woman promise each other love, fidelity and conjugal integrity till death! St Joseph, man of justice, teach us responsible love towards those whom God entrusts to us in a special way: love between spouses and love between parents and those to whom they give life!
Teach us responsibility towards every life, from the first moment of its conception to its last instant on this earth. Teach us a great respect for the gift of life. Teach us to adore deeply the Creator, Father and Giver of life.
St Joseph, Patron of human work, assist us in all work, in that vocation of man on earth. Teach us to resolve the difficult problems connected with work in the life of each a generation, beginning with the young, and in the life of society.
St Joseph, Protector of the Church, today, on your solemnity, we pray to God with these words:
These are key words in the life of St Joseph, descendant of David. With them the eternal Father entrusts to a man--to the carpenter of Nazareth--a great mystery of God.
This mystery was entrusted first to the Virgin, also of the town of Nazareth, who, at the moment of the Annunciation of this same mystery, was already publicly betrothed to Joseph. She was, then, according to the law of Israel, his spouse. But she did not yet dwell in his house. She did not know man, as she herself declares to the angel (cf. Lk 1:34). To her, then, first of all, was entrusted the mystery of the Incarnation. The mystery of the Son "of the same substance of the Father": of the Son of God who, by the power of the Holy Spirit, was made man, so as to accomplish the eternal will of the Father. This Virgin of Nazareth was chosen to be his mother.
2. Thus the divine mystery of the Incarnation was entrusted to Mary before any other person. In her, "the Word was made flesh" (cf. Jn 1:14), when, during the Annunciation, she submitted her will to the inscrutable designs of God. And she, first of all, deserved to be called blessed: "Blessed is she who believed" (Lk 1:45 from that time forward she deserved to be called blessed by all generations (cf. Lk 1:48).
Joseph becomes a participant in the same mystery of God, together with Mary, after her, as the Gospel of today's solemnity testifies: "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). The name "Jesus" in fact means "God saves", and therefore: "Savior".
To Joseph, then, to the carpenter of Nazareth, was entrusted, as to Mary, the same mystery of God. A great mystery, the mystery eternally hidden in God, a mystery that became flesh" in man's history and was revealed to human hearts: to the eyes of faith.
A man of faith
3. We could say of Joseph what was said of Mary by her cousin Elizabeth: "Blessed are you who believed".
Actually the liturgy of today's feast compares Joseph's faith to that of Abraham, whom the Apostle speaks of as the father of our faith (cf. Rom 4:16-18). "I have made you the father of many nations", we read in the Letter to the Romans (4:17). In truth, harking back to the faith of Abraham are not only the followers of the Old Covenant, the Israelites, not only Christians, but also the Muslims.
Joseph, a humble carpenter of Nazareth is heir to this faith. At the same time, the God already known to Israel through the faith of Abraham unveils for him, as he had first done for Mary, the mystery that was not revealed to Abraham, the mystery for which the Old Testament was gradually preparing all generations.
Joseph, a son of Israel, a just man, becomes the trustee of the divine mystery, which has entered into his life as a reality, which has come under the roof of his house--through Mary.
Joseph remained faithful to the mystery entrusted to him by God.
4. Today, 19 March, the Church gathers around Joseph of Nazareth. The Church admires the simplicity and the depth of his faith. She admires and venerates his rectitude, his humility, his courage. How many values God entrusted to Joseph in his humble and hidden life as an artisan of Nazareth! He entrusted to him his own eternal Son, who in the house of Joseph embraced all that constitutes the truth of the Son of man. To Joseph God entrusted Mary, her virginity and her maternity--her virginal maternity. He entrusted to him the Holy Family. God entrusted to Joseph what is most holy in the whole history of creation, and that humble man, that carpenter, did not disappoint God's trust. To the very end he showed himself faithful, thoughtful, provident, solicitous--after the model of the eternal Father himself.
Therefore Joseph has become the man in whom the whole Church trusts. This regards the entire life of the Church and all that pertains to her earthly mission. In a particular way it regards two large areas of human life in which the Church performs her evangelical service:
-- the area of family life, andThey are closely tied to one another.
-- the area of human work.
5. Since I spoke on the theme of work this morning in my meeting with workers, I now wish to limit myself to some considerations regarding the themes of conjugal and family love.
The importance of this question and the frequency with which our society strays from the fundamental principles and values that must guide human conduct in this area are well known. It is necessary that all believers make an ever renewed effort to convince consciences, both through words and example. It is necessary to emphasize continually the inalienable values without which life ceases to be worthy of man and society finds itself threatened at its very roots.
6. Today's feast of St Joseph is in a particular way the feast of the Christian family. According to a popular and by now prevailing custom, it is also "Father's Day". This is easily understood, since St Joseph is a marvelous model for fathers throughout the world.
Yet today is not only the feast of fathers: it is also the feast of mothers, children, grandparents, in their mutual and dutiful relations of love, respect and esteem. It is the feast of family ties and affections in their deep and spontaneous naturalness and in their exalted ethical, civil and religious meaning. In fact, the feast of the family is also, indissolubly, the feast of human life, which in the family arises, is watched over, protected, brought up, educated, launched towards maturity and towards its responsible entry into the Church and society.
7. We see then how the family must be the first school of love and solidarity, the first school of all the human and Christian virtues. Great, then, is the responsibility of parents! The family is a community of love where every member feels understood, accepted and loved and seeks to understand, accept and love the others.
The family is a community of life, it is open to life. Within it, therefore, there is excluded not only everything that offends the coming into being and the development of human life in the physical sense, but also those acts which degrade its moral value, such as humiliations, lack of respect, and acts of negligence especially with regard to elderly, sick or handicapped members.
The love and life that blossom in the family must not be closed in upon the limited context of the family itself, but they must be diffused in concrete choices of ecclesial, civic and social service: the family is open to service.
Spiritual Values
8. The family is open not only to human values, but also to the higher values of the spirit. It in fact has a fundamental role in the first proclamation of the faith and in the Christian initiation of the children. The activity carried out by parents in the religious education of their children is a magnificent expression of the common priesthood of the faithful. In this the parents are irreplaceable instruments of the grace that God wishes to communicate to souls for their salvation.
The family is a community of prayer: it is important not only to pray, but to pray together. In Christian families there must be gatherings for prayer, so that together its members may be nourished, not by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
The special unifying moment for the family, moreover, is that of shared participation in the Holy Mass and the sacraments on Sundays. As for every Christian community, beginning with the universal Church, it is in the Holy Eucharist that the family finds the center of its spiritual equilibrium and the perennial source of its growth and vitality.
Thanks be to God, there are many families--especially within the framework of certain lay movements--who live their Christianity in depth in this way.
9. "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife".
Joseph, Spouse of the Virgin Mother of God, teach us unceasingly all the divine truth and all the human dignity contained in the vocation of spouses and parents!
St Joseph, obtain from God that we may cooperate, with constancy, with the grace of the great sacrament in which man and woman promise each other love, fidelity and conjugal integrity till death! St Joseph, man of justice, teach us responsible love towards those whom God entrusts to us in a special way: love between spouses and love between parents and those to whom they give life!
Teach us responsibility towards every life, from the first moment of its conception to its last instant on this earth. Teach us a great respect for the gift of life. Teach us to adore deeply the Creator, Father and Giver of life.
St Joseph, Patron of human work, assist us in all work, in that vocation of man on earth. Teach us to resolve the difficult problems connected with work in the life of each a generation, beginning with the young, and in the life of society.
St Joseph, Protector of the Church, today, on your solemnity, we pray to God with these words:
Almighty God, who chose to entrust the beginnings of our redemption to the loving care of St. Joseph, by his intercession grant that your Church may cooperate faithfully in the fulfillment of the work of salvation.Now, according to the program envisioned by this Eucharistic celebration, I shall prepare to perform the act of entrusting the diocese to Our Lady of Graces of Allumiere, and to crown the venerated image as a sign of gratitude to the Mother of God, cherishing the hope of more abundant heavenly blessings, obtained through the favor of the Most Holy Virgin.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Homily by Blessed John Paul II on 19 March 1983, Mass in Termoli on the Solemnity of St Joseph
1. "The favors of the Lord I will sing forever" (Ps 89:1). The words of the Responsorial Psalm which has just been proclaimed rise spontaneously to my lips as I gaze at this magnificent assembly of yours, beloved brothers and sisters of the Churches of Termoli and Larino, Campobasso, Isernia and Trivento, who have gathered here to meet me, a pilgrim in your land, and to manifest -- with your presence, with your voice, with your song -- the joy of being a living part of the one flock of Christ.
Yes, I give thanks to the Lord for the demonstration of faith that you offer me in this meeting, in which I can have direct contact with the population of Molise, strong and generous from the ancient traditions of industriousness, honesty, faithful attachment to the religion of your fathers. I give thanks to the Lord and I address to you my most cordial greeting.
A greeting first of all to your Bishop, our venerated brother Cosmo Francesco Ruppi, who has guided the combined Dioceses of Termoli and Larino for about three years. I know that today's meeting takes place within the program of the pastoral visit that he is making to the various communities in which this portion of Christ's flock entrusted to him lives, and with joy I have learned of the reawakening of the faith that is taking place in the dioceses thanks to the apostolic commitment of the priests, religious and laity. May my coming among you serve to strengthen the promising first fruits of this renewed springtime of Christian life.
I greet also the bishops of the other dioceses of Molise and the Region of Abruzzo, who have wanted to take part in this Eucharist in order to attest to their bonds of fraternal communion that link their Churches with the Successor of Peter. I thank them and entrust to them the task of bringing to their respective populations the assurance of my affection and my prayer.
I address a respectful and cordial greeting likewise to the authorities of every rank and grade assembled here, particularly to the mayors of the 136 municipalities of Molise, who have wished to honor this meeting of ours with their presence. In expressing grateful appreciation for this courteous gesture, I like to read in it the expression of the sincere intention to collaborate with the Church, within the limits of their respective competences, in attaining those objectives of civic progress desired by the best forces of this noble and often sorely tried region.
Finally, I wish to address a special greeting to the Italo-Albanian and Slav communities who for almost four centuries have lived in the Dioceses of Termoli and Larino, carrying on their line of fidelity to the Gospel of Christ and to the Church founded by him. I hope that, drawing from the rich heritage of their traditions, they will be able to persevere in this commitment of active Christian consistency so that the torch of faith may be passed on, always burning and shining, to the generations to come.
2. Today the Church is honoring St. Joseph, the "just man", who in the humility of the shop in Nazareth by the work of his own hands, provides support for the Holy Family. Today, therefore, is above all the day of men of work. To you, therefore, workers, farmers, artisans, fishermen, to you workers of the land and the sea, who with daily sweat earn what is necessary for your families, I wish to address in a special way my thought and my word in order to point out for your reflection the example of one who, having shared your experience, can understand your problems; take up your anxieties, direct your efforts toward the building of a better future.
Saint Joseph stands before you as a man of faith and prayer. The Liturgy applies to him the word of God in Psalm 89: "He shall say of me, 'You are my father, my God, the rock, my Savior'" (v. 27). O yes: how many times in the course of long days of work would Joseph have raised his mind to God to invoke him, to offer him his toil, to implore light, help, comfort. How many times! Well then, this man, who with his whole life seemed to cry out to God: "You are my father", receives this most special grace: the Son of God on earth treats him as his father.
Joseph invokes God with all the ardor of his soul as a believer: "my Father", and Jesus, who worked at his side with the tools of a carpenter, addressed him calling him "father".
A profound mystery: Christ, who as God directly experienced the divine fatherhood in the bosom of the Most Blessed Trinity, had this experience as a man through the person of Joseph, his foster father. And Joseph in his turn, in the home in Nazareth, offered the child who was growing beside him the support of his well-balanced virility, his far-sightedness, his courage, his gifts which every good father has, deriving them from that supreme source "from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name" (Eph 3:15).
A great role, this role of fatherhood, which not a few parents today have tried to abdicate, opting for a relationship on a par with their children, which ends up depriving the children of that psychological support and that moral backing which they need to successfully get through the precarious stage of childhood and early adolescence. Someone has said that today we are experiencing the crisis of a "fatherless society". We notice ever more clearly the need to be able to count on fathers who can fulfill their role, combining tenderness with seriousness, understanding with strictness, camaraderie with the exercise of authority, because only in this way will children be able to grow harmoniously, overcoming their fears and preparing themselves to meet courageously the unknown factors in life.
But where, dear fathers, will you be able to draw the energy necessary to assume in various circumstances the right attitude that your children, even without knowing it, expect from you? Saint Joseph offers you the answer to this: it is in God, the source of all fatherhood, it is in his way of acting with men, which is revealed to us by Sacred Scripture that you can find the model of a fatherhood capable of making a positive impression on the educational process of your children, not smothering their spontaneity on the one hand, nor abandoning their still immature personality to the traumatizing experiences of insecurity and loneliness on the other.
3. Joseph and his most chaste spouse, the Virgin Mary, did not abdicate the authority that was theirs as parents. It is very significantly said of Jesus in the Gospel: ". . . and he was obedient to them" (Lk 2:51). A "constructive" obedience, which the walls of the home in Nazareth witnessed, since it is also said in the Gospel that thanks to that obedience, the Child "progressed steadily in wisdom, age and grace before God and men" (ibid. 52)
In this human growth Joseph guided and supported the boy Jesus, introducing him to the knowledge of the religious and social customs of the Jewish people and getting him started in the carpenter's trade, whose every secret he had learned in so many years of practicing it. This is an aspect that I feel compelled to stress today: Saint Joseph taught Jesus human work, in which he was an expert. The Divine Child worked beside him, and by listening to him and observing him, he too learned to manage the carpenter's tools with the diligence and the dedication that the example of his foster father transmitted to him.
This too is a great lesson, beloved brothers and sisters: if the Son of God was willing to learn a human work from a man, this indicates that there is in work a specific moral value with a precise meaning for man and for his self-fulfillment. In the Encyclical Laborem Exercens, I mentioned precisely that "through work man not only transforms nature, adapting it to his own needs, but he also achieves fulfillment as a human being and indeed, in a sense, becomes more a human being" (n. 9)
How can we not recognize then the great dignity of work, whatever kind it may be in its concrete expression? How can we not see the fundamental role that it fulfill in the life of the individual, of the family, of society? Unfortunately, greed and egoism have often pushed men to abuse the intellectual and physical talents of their fellow men and to impose upon them working services that are revealed in various ways to be harmful to their personal dignity. Against these deteriorations of labor relations unions justly arise to defend those whose legitimate rights they see trampled.
If this is just and merits approval, an attitude would be incomprehensible that would succeed in questioning work as such, not recognizing its providential role' indicated in the first Biblical command: "Subdue the earth!" (cf. Gen 1:28). This role Saint Joseph recognized and accepted in his life, transmitting to the young Jesus who was growing at his side the spirit of joyful readiness with which he resumed his daily task every morning. For this too Saint Joseph stands before the Christian people as a shining model of life, to whom every father can and must look in the concrete choices that are imposed upon him by the responsibility of a family.
4. "I have made you father of many nations" (Rom 4:17), was proclaimed a short time ago in the First Reading of the Mass. The words which God spoke to Abraham, at the time already old and still without offspring, the Liturgy applies today to Saint Joseph, who did not have any carnal offspring at all. And we who are reflecting on his personal experiences can quite appreciate the suitability of this approach. After having been a special instrument of Divine Providence with regard to Jesus and Mary, above all during Herod's persecution, Saint Joseph continues to carry out his providential and "fatherly" mission in the life of the Church and of all men.
"Father of many nations": the devotion with which Christians of every part of the world, encouraged in this by the Liturgy, turn to Saint Joseph to confide their troubles to him and to implore his protection confirm the singular fact of this limitless fatherhood.
Therefore look with confidence to Saint Joseph, you men and women of Molise and Abruzzo, persevering in a devotion that is so deeply inscribed in the traditions of your ancestors. Is he not a magnificent example for every committed lay person who within the parish and the various ecclesial movements wants to give courageous witness to Christ?
Have recourse to St. Joseph, particularly you priests and religious, you consecrated souls, who in his virginal chastity and spiritual fatherhood see the highest ideals of your vocation reflected. He teaches you love for meditation and prayer, generous fidelity to commitments assumed before God and the Church, selfless dedication to the community in which Providence has placed you, however small and unknown it may be. In the light of his example you will be able to learn and appreciate the value of all that is humble, simple, hidden, of what is accomplished, without show and without clamor, but with decisive results, in the unfathomable depths of the heart.
And you, families of today, who are experiencing rapid changes in modern society and suffering their sometimes worrying repercussions, you can find in the family of Nazareth, which Joseph watched over with anxious care, the ever-present model of a community of persons in which love assures an understanding that is daily renewed. Invoking Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the members of every family of your ecclesial communities can rediscover in the various moments of their lives the joy of the reciprocal gift, the comfort of solidarity in trials, the serene peace of those who know how to count on the omnipotent, even if mysterious, Divine Providence.
"He shall say of me, 'You are my father'". Like Saint Joseph, you too must invoke the heavenly Father with persevering and fervent prayer, and you will experience, as he did, the truth of the following words of the Psalm: "Forever I will maintain my kindness toward him, and my covenant with him stands firm" (Ps 89:29).
Yes, I give thanks to the Lord for the demonstration of faith that you offer me in this meeting, in which I can have direct contact with the population of Molise, strong and generous from the ancient traditions of industriousness, honesty, faithful attachment to the religion of your fathers. I give thanks to the Lord and I address to you my most cordial greeting.
A greeting first of all to your Bishop, our venerated brother Cosmo Francesco Ruppi, who has guided the combined Dioceses of Termoli and Larino for about three years. I know that today's meeting takes place within the program of the pastoral visit that he is making to the various communities in which this portion of Christ's flock entrusted to him lives, and with joy I have learned of the reawakening of the faith that is taking place in the dioceses thanks to the apostolic commitment of the priests, religious and laity. May my coming among you serve to strengthen the promising first fruits of this renewed springtime of Christian life.
I greet also the bishops of the other dioceses of Molise and the Region of Abruzzo, who have wanted to take part in this Eucharist in order to attest to their bonds of fraternal communion that link their Churches with the Successor of Peter. I thank them and entrust to them the task of bringing to their respective populations the assurance of my affection and my prayer.
Special greetings
I address a respectful and cordial greeting likewise to the authorities of every rank and grade assembled here, particularly to the mayors of the 136 municipalities of Molise, who have wished to honor this meeting of ours with their presence. In expressing grateful appreciation for this courteous gesture, I like to read in it the expression of the sincere intention to collaborate with the Church, within the limits of their respective competences, in attaining those objectives of civic progress desired by the best forces of this noble and often sorely tried region.
Finally, I wish to address a special greeting to the Italo-Albanian and Slav communities who for almost four centuries have lived in the Dioceses of Termoli and Larino, carrying on their line of fidelity to the Gospel of Christ and to the Church founded by him. I hope that, drawing from the rich heritage of their traditions, they will be able to persevere in this commitment of active Christian consistency so that the torch of faith may be passed on, always burning and shining, to the generations to come.
By the work of his own hands
2. Today the Church is honoring St. Joseph, the "just man", who in the humility of the shop in Nazareth by the work of his own hands, provides support for the Holy Family. Today, therefore, is above all the day of men of work. To you, therefore, workers, farmers, artisans, fishermen, to you workers of the land and the sea, who with daily sweat earn what is necessary for your families, I wish to address in a special way my thought and my word in order to point out for your reflection the example of one who, having shared your experience, can understand your problems; take up your anxieties, direct your efforts toward the building of a better future.
Saint Joseph stands before you as a man of faith and prayer. The Liturgy applies to him the word of God in Psalm 89: "He shall say of me, 'You are my father, my God, the rock, my Savior'" (v. 27). O yes: how many times in the course of long days of work would Joseph have raised his mind to God to invoke him, to offer him his toil, to implore light, help, comfort. How many times! Well then, this man, who with his whole life seemed to cry out to God: "You are my father", receives this most special grace: the Son of God on earth treats him as his father.
Joseph invokes God with all the ardor of his soul as a believer: "my Father", and Jesus, who worked at his side with the tools of a carpenter, addressed him calling him "father".
A profound mystery: Christ, who as God directly experienced the divine fatherhood in the bosom of the Most Blessed Trinity, had this experience as a man through the person of Joseph, his foster father. And Joseph in his turn, in the home in Nazareth, offered the child who was growing beside him the support of his well-balanced virility, his far-sightedness, his courage, his gifts which every good father has, deriving them from that supreme source "from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name" (Eph 3:15).
The great role of fatherhood
A great role, this role of fatherhood, which not a few parents today have tried to abdicate, opting for a relationship on a par with their children, which ends up depriving the children of that psychological support and that moral backing which they need to successfully get through the precarious stage of childhood and early adolescence. Someone has said that today we are experiencing the crisis of a "fatherless society". We notice ever more clearly the need to be able to count on fathers who can fulfill their role, combining tenderness with seriousness, understanding with strictness, camaraderie with the exercise of authority, because only in this way will children be able to grow harmoniously, overcoming their fears and preparing themselves to meet courageously the unknown factors in life.
But where, dear fathers, will you be able to draw the energy necessary to assume in various circumstances the right attitude that your children, even without knowing it, expect from you? Saint Joseph offers you the answer to this: it is in God, the source of all fatherhood, it is in his way of acting with men, which is revealed to us by Sacred Scripture that you can find the model of a fatherhood capable of making a positive impression on the educational process of your children, not smothering their spontaneity on the one hand, nor abandoning their still immature personality to the traumatizing experiences of insecurity and loneliness on the other.
Specific moral value
3. Joseph and his most chaste spouse, the Virgin Mary, did not abdicate the authority that was theirs as parents. It is very significantly said of Jesus in the Gospel: ". . . and he was obedient to them" (Lk 2:51). A "constructive" obedience, which the walls of the home in Nazareth witnessed, since it is also said in the Gospel that thanks to that obedience, the Child "progressed steadily in wisdom, age and grace before God and men" (ibid. 52)
In this human growth Joseph guided and supported the boy Jesus, introducing him to the knowledge of the religious and social customs of the Jewish people and getting him started in the carpenter's trade, whose every secret he had learned in so many years of practicing it. This is an aspect that I feel compelled to stress today: Saint Joseph taught Jesus human work, in which he was an expert. The Divine Child worked beside him, and by listening to him and observing him, he too learned to manage the carpenter's tools with the diligence and the dedication that the example of his foster father transmitted to him.
This too is a great lesson, beloved brothers and sisters: if the Son of God was willing to learn a human work from a man, this indicates that there is in work a specific moral value with a precise meaning for man and for his self-fulfillment. In the Encyclical Laborem Exercens, I mentioned precisely that "through work man not only transforms nature, adapting it to his own needs, but he also achieves fulfillment as a human being and indeed, in a sense, becomes more a human being" (n. 9)
How can we not recognize then the great dignity of work, whatever kind it may be in its concrete expression? How can we not see the fundamental role that it fulfill in the life of the individual, of the family, of society? Unfortunately, greed and egoism have often pushed men to abuse the intellectual and physical talents of their fellow men and to impose upon them working services that are revealed in various ways to be harmful to their personal dignity. Against these deteriorations of labor relations unions justly arise to defend those whose legitimate rights they see trampled.
If this is just and merits approval, an attitude would be incomprehensible that would succeed in questioning work as such, not recognizing its providential role' indicated in the first Biblical command: "Subdue the earth!" (cf. Gen 1:28). This role Saint Joseph recognized and accepted in his life, transmitting to the young Jesus who was growing at his side the spirit of joyful readiness with which he resumed his daily task every morning. For this too Saint Joseph stands before the Christian people as a shining model of life, to whom every father can and must look in the concrete choices that are imposed upon him by the responsibility of a family.
Call on St. Joseph
4. "I have made you father of many nations" (Rom 4:17), was proclaimed a short time ago in the First Reading of the Mass. The words which God spoke to Abraham, at the time already old and still without offspring, the Liturgy applies today to Saint Joseph, who did not have any carnal offspring at all. And we who are reflecting on his personal experiences can quite appreciate the suitability of this approach. After having been a special instrument of Divine Providence with regard to Jesus and Mary, above all during Herod's persecution, Saint Joseph continues to carry out his providential and "fatherly" mission in the life of the Church and of all men.
"Father of many nations": the devotion with which Christians of every part of the world, encouraged in this by the Liturgy, turn to Saint Joseph to confide their troubles to him and to implore his protection confirm the singular fact of this limitless fatherhood.
Therefore look with confidence to Saint Joseph, you men and women of Molise and Abruzzo, persevering in a devotion that is so deeply inscribed in the traditions of your ancestors. Is he not a magnificent example for every committed lay person who within the parish and the various ecclesial movements wants to give courageous witness to Christ?
Have recourse to St. Joseph, particularly you priests and religious, you consecrated souls, who in his virginal chastity and spiritual fatherhood see the highest ideals of your vocation reflected. He teaches you love for meditation and prayer, generous fidelity to commitments assumed before God and the Church, selfless dedication to the community in which Providence has placed you, however small and unknown it may be. In the light of his example you will be able to learn and appreciate the value of all that is humble, simple, hidden, of what is accomplished, without show and without clamor, but with decisive results, in the unfathomable depths of the heart.
And you, families of today, who are experiencing rapid changes in modern society and suffering their sometimes worrying repercussions, you can find in the family of Nazareth, which Joseph watched over with anxious care, the ever-present model of a community of persons in which love assures an understanding that is daily renewed. Invoking Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the members of every family of your ecclesial communities can rediscover in the various moments of their lives the joy of the reciprocal gift, the comfort of solidarity in trials, the serene peace of those who know how to count on the omnipotent, even if mysterious, Divine Providence.
"He shall say of me, 'You are my father'". Like Saint Joseph, you too must invoke the heavenly Father with persevering and fervent prayer, and you will experience, as he did, the truth of the following words of the Psalm: "Forever I will maintain my kindness toward him, and my covenant with him stands firm" (Ps 89:29).
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Homily by Blessed John Paul II on 19 March 1982: Pastoral Visit to the Diocese of Livorno
1. Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I am here with you today to venerate St. Joseph on the day when the entire Church venerates him. She venerates him as he deserves, that admirable "just man", husband before the law of Mary, the Virgin of Nazareth, Mother of the Son of God.
At the same time, the Church venerates Joseph of Nazareth as a "craftsman", as a man of work, perhaps a carpenter by trade. He was the one and only--among all the men of work on earth-- at whose workbench there appeared every day Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of man. It was Joseph himself who had him learn the work of his profession, who started him on his way in it, who taught him to overcome the difficulties and the resistance of the "material" element and to draw out of shapeless matter the works of human handicraft. It is he, Joseph of Nazareth, who once for all linked the Son of God to human work. Thanks to him, the same Christ belongs also to the world of work and gives witness to its very high dignity in the eyes of God.
Livorno is a great work environment. And it is here that we wish to give veneration to St. Joseph. In this way we wish to express that the world entrusted to man as a task by the Creator, always and in every place on earth and in the midst of every society and nation, is "the world of work". "World of work" means at the same time "human world". It is precisely on this "world" that the Council spoke in the Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, entitled Gaudium et Spes, which indicates the world, that is the "human world" (which in principal measure is "the world of work") as the place of the Church and as the object of its pastoral task.
The Church is in this world. It is sent to this world, because "God so loved the world that he sent his only-begotten Son" (Jn 3:16). And that happened and was fulfilled in the course of thirty years in Joseph's house in Nazareth. Therefore, today we venerate in St. Joseph that world to which Christ and the Church have been sent.
2. And at the same time, this "just man" remains involved in the mystery of the Church with his whole life and vocation. We know his "hidden" life and his "silent" vocation. We know it sufficiently from the Gospel. But in the Gospel we do not read any word spoken by St. Joseph of Nazareth. Instead we are witnesses of the events which tell how deeply God himself incorporated St. Joseph's vocation in the mystery of the Church.
Today's liturgical readings particularly give testimony of this.
The mystery of the Church, that is, the reality of the Church, is already born in some way from the promise that God made to Abraham, and at the same time from that faith with which Abraham responded to God's call. Rightly, in, St. Joseph's day, we read the following sentences from the Letter to the Romans: The promise to Abraham and his descendants, that they should inherit the world, did not come through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law, but also to those who share the faith of Abraham" (Rom 4:13, 16).
And further on, the Apostle writes of the same Abraham: he "is the father of us all, as it is written: "I have made you the father of many nations; he is our father in the presence of God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist" (ROM 4:16-17).
Hand in hand with faith there is hope. Abraham is "father" of our faith and of our hope. "In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations" (ROM 4:18).
And St. Paul continues: "That is why his faith was reckoned to him as righteousness" (ROM 4:22).
Joseph, a just man
3. It is fitting that we reread these words of the liturgy of today's feast. We reread them thinking of St. Joseph of Nazareth, who was a "just man", to whom was accredited "as justice" the fact that he believed in the God who "gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist". These words, written about Abraham, we reread today thinking of St. Joseph of Nazareth, who "had faith, hoping against every hope". That happened at the decisive moment for the history of salvation when God, the Eternal Father, fulfilling the promise made to Abraham, "sent his Son into the world", It is precisely then that the faith of Joseph of Nazareth is manifested, and it is manifested in the measure of Abraham's faith. It is manifested more greatly then the Word of the Living God, as made flesh in Mary, Joseph's spouse, who at the announcement of the angel "was found to be with child through the work of the Holy Spirit". And this occurred, as Matthew the Evangelist writes, after Mary's marriage to Joseph, but "before they came to live together".
So then St. Joseph's faith was to he manifested in the presence of the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God.
At that precise time Joseph of Nazareth passed the great test of his faith, as Abraham had passed it.
It is then that Joseph the just man" believed in God as the one who "calls into existence the things that do not exist".
In fact, God himself, with the power of the Holy Spirit, called into existence in the womb of the Virgin of Nazareth, Mary, betrothed to Joseph, the humanity that belonged to the only-begotten Son of God, the Eternal Word of the Father.
He, God, is the one who calls into existence the things that do not exist.
And Joseph of Nazareth believed in God. He believed just as Abraham had once done. He believed when God spoke to him with the word of the angel of the Lord. These are the words he heard: "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 1:20-22).
Joseph, who at first "was unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to send her away quietly" (MT l 19), now "did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him" (MT 1:24).
He took Mary with him-- and the One who had been begotten in her.
Thus he showed that he was a true descendant of Abraham according to faith. A privileged descendant. In fact, it was given him to become the most direct witness, and almost the eyewitness, of the fulfillment of the promise once given to Abraham and received through faith.
Abraham "in hope believed against hope"-- and Joseph believed in the same way. He was called by the voice of God, that the hope of salvation could be fulfilled in the world.
4. The Church lives on the heritage of Abraham's faith. The Church arose and exists because the promise once made to Abraham could be fulfilled in the world. The Church links its beginning-- the fulfillment of the hope of the world-- also with the faith of Joseph of Nazareth.
What emanates from his whole figure is faith, the true heritage of Abraham's faith. His faith is the closest likeness and comparison with the faith of Mary of Nazareth. Both Mary and Joseph are united by this marvelous bond. Before men, the bond was one of marriage. Before God and the Church, it is the marriage of the Holy Spirit.
Through this marriage in faith, both of them, Mary and Joseph beside her, became witnesses and dispensers of the mystery through which the created world, and especially human hearts, become again the dwelling of the Living God.
Joseph of Nazareth is a just man" because he totally lives by faith". He is holy because his faith is truly heroic.
Sacred Scripture says little of him little more than what we read in today's liturgy. It does not record even one word spoken by Joseph, the carpenter of Nazareth. And yet, even without words, he shows the depth of his faith, his greatness.
St. Joseph is a man of great spirit. Re is great in faith, not because he speaks his own words, but above all because he listens to the word of the Living God.
He listens in silence. And his heart ceaselessly perseveres in readiness to accept the Truth contained in the word of the Living God. In order to receive it and fulfill it with love.
Therefore Joseph of Nazareth be comes truly a marvelous witness of the Divine Mystery. He becomes a provider for the Tabernacle that God has chosen for himself on earth to carry out the work of salvation.
5. Looking today with veneration and love at the figure of St. Joseph, we must with this glance renew our own faith.
We see how the word of the Living God penetrates deeply into the soul of that man--that just man.
And we, do we know how to listen to the word of God? Do we know how to absorb it into the depths of our human "I"? Do we open our conscience in the presence of this word?
Or do we instead stop only at the surface of God's word? Do we close to it a deeper access to our soul? Do we welcome this word in the silence of interior readiness, as Joseph of Nazareth? Do we create conditions for it to act within us and bear fruit?
Do we listen to the word of God? How do we listen to it? Do we read Sacred Scripture? Do we take part in catechesis?
We need faith so much.
Faith is so necessary to the man of our times, of today's difficult era!
A great faith is so necessary!
Precisely today a great faith is necessary to men, to families, to communities, to the Church.
And it is precisely to prepare us for faith's mature look at the problems of the Church and the modern world that Divine Providence gave us the Second Vatican Council, its teaching and its direction.
It is necessary that now, in the individual communities that are also Churches--at least in the "domestic Churches"--that work on the assimilation of this teaching continue.
We must read, we must listen, and accept in the silence of interior readiness that word which the Holy Spirit "speaks to the Church" of our time.
I know that the Diocesan Synod of the Church in Livorno works in this sense.
Today I commend to St. Joseph the fruits of this work.
6. Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife. . . for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit" (MT 1:20).
People of God! Church of Livorno!
Do not be afraid to take, together with Joseph of Nazareth, Mary. Do not be afraid to take Jesus Christ her son into your whole life.
Do not be afraid to take him with a faith like the faith of Joseph.
Do not be afraid to take him under the roofs of your home as Joseph welcomed Jesus under the roof of his home in Nazareth. Do not be afraid to take Christ into your daily work.
Do not be afraid to take him into your "world".
Then this world will be truly "human". It will become ever more human.
In fact, only the God-Man can make our "human world" fully "human.
I am here with you today to venerate St. Joseph on the day when the entire Church venerates him. She venerates him as he deserves, that admirable "just man", husband before the law of Mary, the Virgin of Nazareth, Mother of the Son of God.
At the same time, the Church venerates Joseph of Nazareth as a "craftsman", as a man of work, perhaps a carpenter by trade. He was the one and only--among all the men of work on earth-- at whose workbench there appeared every day Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of man. It was Joseph himself who had him learn the work of his profession, who started him on his way in it, who taught him to overcome the difficulties and the resistance of the "material" element and to draw out of shapeless matter the works of human handicraft. It is he, Joseph of Nazareth, who once for all linked the Son of God to human work. Thanks to him, the same Christ belongs also to the world of work and gives witness to its very high dignity in the eyes of God.
Livorno is a great work environment. And it is here that we wish to give veneration to St. Joseph. In this way we wish to express that the world entrusted to man as a task by the Creator, always and in every place on earth and in the midst of every society and nation, is "the world of work". "World of work" means at the same time "human world". It is precisely on this "world" that the Council spoke in the Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, entitled Gaudium et Spes, which indicates the world, that is the "human world" (which in principal measure is "the world of work") as the place of the Church and as the object of its pastoral task.
The Church is in this world. It is sent to this world, because "God so loved the world that he sent his only-begotten Son" (Jn 3:16). And that happened and was fulfilled in the course of thirty years in Joseph's house in Nazareth. Therefore, today we venerate in St. Joseph that world to which Christ and the Church have been sent.
Involved in the mystery of the Church
2. And at the same time, this "just man" remains involved in the mystery of the Church with his whole life and vocation. We know his "hidden" life and his "silent" vocation. We know it sufficiently from the Gospel. But in the Gospel we do not read any word spoken by St. Joseph of Nazareth. Instead we are witnesses of the events which tell how deeply God himself incorporated St. Joseph's vocation in the mystery of the Church.
Today's liturgical readings particularly give testimony of this.
The mystery of the Church, that is, the reality of the Church, is already born in some way from the promise that God made to Abraham, and at the same time from that faith with which Abraham responded to God's call. Rightly, in, St. Joseph's day, we read the following sentences from the Letter to the Romans: The promise to Abraham and his descendants, that they should inherit the world, did not come through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law, but also to those who share the faith of Abraham" (Rom 4:13, 16).
And further on, the Apostle writes of the same Abraham: he "is the father of us all, as it is written: "I have made you the father of many nations; he is our father in the presence of God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist" (ROM 4:16-17).
Hand in hand with faith there is hope. Abraham is "father" of our faith and of our hope. "In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations" (ROM 4:18).
And St. Paul continues: "That is why his faith was reckoned to him as righteousness" (ROM 4:22).
Joseph, a just man
3. It is fitting that we reread these words of the liturgy of today's feast. We reread them thinking of St. Joseph of Nazareth, who was a "just man", to whom was accredited "as justice" the fact that he believed in the God who "gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist". These words, written about Abraham, we reread today thinking of St. Joseph of Nazareth, who "had faith, hoping against every hope". That happened at the decisive moment for the history of salvation when God, the Eternal Father, fulfilling the promise made to Abraham, "sent his Son into the world", It is precisely then that the faith of Joseph of Nazareth is manifested, and it is manifested in the measure of Abraham's faith. It is manifested more greatly then the Word of the Living God, as made flesh in Mary, Joseph's spouse, who at the announcement of the angel "was found to be with child through the work of the Holy Spirit". And this occurred, as Matthew the Evangelist writes, after Mary's marriage to Joseph, but "before they came to live together".
So then St. Joseph's faith was to he manifested in the presence of the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God.
At that precise time Joseph of Nazareth passed the great test of his faith, as Abraham had passed it.
It is then that Joseph the just man" believed in God as the one who "calls into existence the things that do not exist".
In fact, God himself, with the power of the Holy Spirit, called into existence in the womb of the Virgin of Nazareth, Mary, betrothed to Joseph, the humanity that belonged to the only-begotten Son of God, the Eternal Word of the Father.
He, God, is the one who calls into existence the things that do not exist.
And Joseph of Nazareth believed in God. He believed just as Abraham had once done. He believed when God spoke to him with the word of the angel of the Lord. These are the words he heard: "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 1:20-22).
Joseph, who at first "was unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to send her away quietly" (MT l 19), now "did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him" (MT 1:24).
He took Mary with him-- and the One who had been begotten in her.
Thus he showed that he was a true descendant of Abraham according to faith. A privileged descendant. In fact, it was given him to become the most direct witness, and almost the eyewitness, of the fulfillment of the promise once given to Abraham and received through faith.
Abraham "in hope believed against hope"-- and Joseph believed in the same way. He was called by the voice of God, that the hope of salvation could be fulfilled in the world.
Abraham's faith
4. The Church lives on the heritage of Abraham's faith. The Church arose and exists because the promise once made to Abraham could be fulfilled in the world. The Church links its beginning-- the fulfillment of the hope of the world-- also with the faith of Joseph of Nazareth.
What emanates from his whole figure is faith, the true heritage of Abraham's faith. His faith is the closest likeness and comparison with the faith of Mary of Nazareth. Both Mary and Joseph are united by this marvelous bond. Before men, the bond was one of marriage. Before God and the Church, it is the marriage of the Holy Spirit.
Through this marriage in faith, both of them, Mary and Joseph beside her, became witnesses and dispensers of the mystery through which the created world, and especially human hearts, become again the dwelling of the Living God.
Joseph of Nazareth is a just man" because he totally lives by faith". He is holy because his faith is truly heroic.
Sacred Scripture says little of him little more than what we read in today's liturgy. It does not record even one word spoken by Joseph, the carpenter of Nazareth. And yet, even without words, he shows the depth of his faith, his greatness.
St. Joseph is a man of great spirit. Re is great in faith, not because he speaks his own words, but above all because he listens to the word of the Living God.
He listens in silence. And his heart ceaselessly perseveres in readiness to accept the Truth contained in the word of the Living God. In order to receive it and fulfill it with love.
Therefore Joseph of Nazareth be comes truly a marvelous witness of the Divine Mystery. He becomes a provider for the Tabernacle that God has chosen for himself on earth to carry out the work of salvation.
5. Looking today with veneration and love at the figure of St. Joseph, we must with this glance renew our own faith.
We see how the word of the Living God penetrates deeply into the soul of that man--that just man.
And we, do we know how to listen to the word of God? Do we know how to absorb it into the depths of our human "I"? Do we open our conscience in the presence of this word?
Or do we instead stop only at the surface of God's word? Do we close to it a deeper access to our soul? Do we welcome this word in the silence of interior readiness, as Joseph of Nazareth? Do we create conditions for it to act within us and bear fruit?
Do we listen to the word of God? How do we listen to it? Do we read Sacred Scripture? Do we take part in catechesis?
We need faith so much.
Faith is so necessary to the man of our times, of today's difficult era!
A great faith is so necessary!
Precisely today a great faith is necessary to men, to families, to communities, to the Church.
And it is precisely to prepare us for faith's mature look at the problems of the Church and the modern world that Divine Providence gave us the Second Vatican Council, its teaching and its direction.
It is necessary that now, in the individual communities that are also Churches--at least in the "domestic Churches"--that work on the assimilation of this teaching continue.
We must read, we must listen, and accept in the silence of interior readiness that word which the Holy Spirit "speaks to the Church" of our time.
I know that the Diocesan Synod of the Church in Livorno works in this sense.
Today I commend to St. Joseph the fruits of this work.
6. Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife. . . for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit" (MT 1:20).
People of God! Church of Livorno!
Do not be afraid to take, together with Joseph of Nazareth, Mary. Do not be afraid to take Jesus Christ her son into your whole life.
Do not be afraid to take him with a faith like the faith of Joseph.
Do not be afraid to take him under the roofs of your home as Joseph welcomed Jesus under the roof of his home in Nazareth. Do not be afraid to take Christ into your daily work.
Do not be afraid to take him into your "world".
Then this world will be truly "human". It will become ever more human.
In fact, only the God-Man can make our "human world" fully "human.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Homily by Blessed John Paul II on 19 March 1981: Pastoral visit to the Diocese of Terni (Italy) - Mass for families
1. "Blessed are those who dwell in thy house (Lord), ever singing thy praise" (Ps 83 [84] :4).
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
After this morning's meeting at your place of work, we are now gathered in this large stadium to participate in the Eucharist. Once more I wish to express gratitude to you, because on the day on which the Church venerates St. Joseph, a just man", who worked in Nazareth at the carpenter's bench, I had the privilege of meeting you in one of the factories where there are the workbenches of so many men residing in Terni and in the neighboring localities. That meeting was centered on the great problem of human work, to which this day particularly directs our thoughts and our hearts.
I greet you here for the second time in a fuller circle: accompanied by your families, your wives and children, relatives, neighbors and acquaintances. Joseph of Nazareth, "a just man", whose solemnity permits us to look with the eyes of faith at the great cause of human work, is simultaneously head of the home and head of the family: of the Holy Family, just as each of you, my brothers and sisters, is a husband and father, a wife and mother, responsible for the family and for the home. There is a close connection between work and the family: between your work and your family. St. Joseph is, with a special right, the Patron Saint of this bond. And so it is a good thing that, after our morning meeting which saw us gathered round your workbenches, we are able to meet here to dedicate the Holy Mass of the Solemnity of St. Joseph to families. To every family and to all families.
I wish to invite more cordially precisely these families to the eucharistic community, which expresses our family unity with God, the Father of Jesus Christ and our Father--and at the same time manifests the reciprocal unity of men, especially those who constitute one family.
2. The Eucharist manifests and realizes the family unity of the whole Church. To take part in the Sacrifice of Christ, to nourish herself on his Body and his Blood, the Church gathers as a family at the table of the Divine Word and at the table of the Lord's Bread.
Today, the whole Church of Terni, Narni and Amelia participates in a particular way in this solemn eucharistic assembly.
I wish to greet this Church cordially as the family of the People of God with the Bishop Santo Bartolomeo Quadri, who is its pastor, and with the whole presbyterium. I greet the members of the chapters, the educators of the seminary, the parish priests and their collaborators. I also greet the men and women religious of the orders and congregations, who are carrying out their work in the area, making their valuable contribution to the building up of the People of God. I address a respectful thought to the civil authorities, who wished to honor this celebration of ours with their presence.
I wish to reserve a word of greeting for the representatives of the parish of Castelnuovo di Conza, which was hit by the earthquake, and with whom the faithful of this land have commendably established a twinning of solidarity. I also greet with particular cordiality the lay people engaged in the apostolate, especially those who have agreed to take an active part in the various kinds of associations operating both at the diocesan and at the parochial level. And I greet the young, whom I see present in such large numbers: may they always succeed in keeping their hearts open to the values proclaimed in the Gospel, committing themselves to building on them a future more worthy of man. A greeting, finally, to all the faithful of the diocesan communities which, in the daily accomplishment of their family and social tasks, bear witness before their brothers and sisters to the strength of their Christian convictions.
The Churches of Terni, Narni and Amelia can pride themselves on ancient traditions of faith, sealed by the blood of illustrious martyrs: Valentine, Giovenale, Firmina are names well known to you, which evoke the memory of difficult times, in which adherence to Christ not infrequently involved the sacrifice of one's life. May the example of dauntless fortitude that your holy Patrons have left you as a lasting heritage be, for every child of this land, a constant incentive to that courageous consistency of life, without which it is impossible to feel and be truly Christians. Following the example of those ancient Christians who died for their faith, may you also be able to live your faith today!
3. The reading of the Gospel according to St. Matthew invites us to meditate on a particular moment in the life of Joseph of Nazareth, a moment full of divine content and at the same time of profound human truth. We read: "Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit" (Mt 1:18). When we listen to these words, there come to mind those other well-known words which we recite daily, in the morning, noon and evening prayer: "The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary and she conceived of the Holy Spirit".
Through the Holy Spirit, the Son of God was conceived in order to become a man, the son of Mary. This was the mystery of the Virgin, who replied to the words of the Annunciation: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word" (Lk 1:38).
And so it happened: "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (Jn 1:14). And above all he came to dwell in the womb of the Virgin who remaining a virgin--became a mother: "she was found to be with third of the Holy Spirit" (MT 1:18).
This was Mary's mystery. Joseph did not know this mystery. He did not know that in her whose bridegroom he was, even though, in obedience to Jewish law, he had not yet received her under his roof, there had been fulfilled that promise of faith made to Abraham, of which St. Paul speaks in the second reading today. That is, that there had been fulfilled in her, in Mary of the family of David, the prophecy which the prophet Nathan had once addressed to David. The prophecy and the promise of faith, whose fulfillment was awaited by the whole People, the Israel of divine election, and the whole of humanity.
This was Mary's mystery. Joseph did not know this mystery. She could not transmit it to him, because it was a mystery beyond the capacity of the human intellect and the possibilities of human language. It was not possible to transmit it by any human means. It was only possible to accept it from God and believe. Just as Mary believed.
Joseph did not know this mystery and for this reason he suffered a great deal inwardly. We read: "Her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly" (MT 1:19).
But a certain night came when Joseph too believed. The word of God was addressed to him and the mystery of Mary, his bride and wife, became clear for him. He believed that, lo, the promise of faith made to Abraham and the prophecy that King David had heard had been fulfilled. (Both Joseph and Mary were of the family of David).
"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).
"When Joseph woke from sleep -- the Evangelist concludes -- he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him" (MT 1: 24).
4. We gathered here, hear these words -- and we venerate Joseph, a just man. Joseph, of the house of David, who loved Mary most deeply, because he accepted her whole mystery. We venerate Joseph in whom there is reflected more fully than in all earthly fathers the Fatherhood of God himself. We venerate Joseph who built the family house on earth for the Eternal Word just as Mary gave him a human body. "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (Jn 1:14).
From this great mystery of faith let us direct our thoughts to our homes, to so many couples and families. Joseph of Nazareth is a particular revelation of the dignity of human fatherhood! Joseph of Nazareth, the carpenter, the man of work. Think of that, you, precisely you men of work of Terni, Narni, Amelia and of the whole of Italy, the whole of Europe and of the whole world.
The family rests on the dignity of human fatherhood -- on the responsibility of the man, husband and father, as also on his work. Joseph of Nazareth bears witness to this for us.
Are not the words that God speaks to him: "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife" (MT 1:20), addressed to each of you? Dear brothers, husbands and fathers of a family! "Do not fear to take. . .". Do not give up! It was said at the beginning: "Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife" (Gen 2:24). And Christ adds: "What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder" (Mk 10:9). The unity of the family, its stability, is one of the fundamental blessings of man and of society. At the basis of family unity there is the indissolubility of marriage -- if man, if society seek the ways that deprive marriage of its indissolubility and the family of its unity and stability, then they cut off, as it were, the very root of its health, and deprive themselves of one of the fundamental goods on which human life is built.
Dear brothers! May that voice which Joseph of Nazareth heard during that decisive night of his life always reach you, in particular when the danger of the destruction of the family looms up. "Do not fear to persevere"! "Do not give up"! Behave as that just man did.
5. Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary and that which is conceived in her (cf. MT 1:20). So God the Father says to the man with whom, in a way, he shared his fatherhood. God, dear brothers, in a sense shares his fatherhood with each of you. Not in the mysterious and supernatural way in which he did with Joseph of Nazareth . . . And yet every fatherhood on earth, every human fatherhood takes its beginning from him, and finds its model in him. Your human fatherhood, dear brothers, is always connected with motherhood. And what is conceived in the womb of the woman -- mother unites you spouses, husband and wife, with a particular bond that God the Creator of man blessed right "from the beginning". This is the bond of fatherhood and motherhood, which is formed from the moment when the man, the husband, finds in the motherhood of the woman the expression and confirmation of his human fatherhood.
Fatherhood is responsibility for life: for the life first conceived in the woman's womb and then born, in order that a new man, who is blood of your blood and flesh of your flesh, may be revealed. God who says: "do not abandon the woman, your wife", says at the same time: "receive the life conceived in her"! Just as he said to Joseph of Nazareth, although Joseph was not the blood father of him who was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary.
God says to every man: "accept the life conceived of you! Do not allow it to be suppressed!" God says this with the voice of his commandments, with the voice of the Church. But he says so above all with the voice of conscience. The voice of human conscience. This voice is univocal, in spite of everything that is done to prevent people from listening to it and to stifle it, despite everything that is done, that is, so that man and woman will not listen to this simple and clear voice of conscience.
Men of work, men of hard work know this simple voice of conscience. What they feel most deeply is precisely that bond which unites work and the family. Work is for the family, since work is for man (and not vice versa) -- and precisely the family, first and above all the family, is the specific place of man. It is the environment in which he is conceived, is born and matures, the environment for which he assumes the most serious responsibility, in which he fulfills himself daily, the environment of his earthly happiness and human hope. And so today, on St. Joseph's day, knowing the hearts of the workers, their honesty and responsibility, I express the conviction that precisely they will assure and consolidate these two fundamental goods of man and society: the unity of the family and respect for the life conceived under the mother's heart.
6. "Blessed are those who dwell in thy house, Lord" (cf. Ps 83 [84], 4) I wish you happiness, dear brothers and sisters. I wish you that happiness that springs from a pure conscience. I wish you that happiness that the home offers. From the house of Joseph, Mary and Jesus in Nazareth, from that modest workbench, joined to it, I draw in thought and in the heart a continuous line, as it were, as far as these modern work yards of industrial work in which you toil -- and I extend it further: to your homes, to your families. May the happiness that comes from God reign in them. May it be stronger than all the ordeals of life, from which man is never free on earth. And above all may man mature in your homes, in your families, according to the specific extent of his dignity.
Of the dignity given to him by Jesus of Nazareth . . . Jesus of whom people spoke as "the carpenter's son" (MT 13:55). While he was of the same substance as the Father, the Son of God became incarnate and was born as a man from the Virgin Mary of the Holy Spirit.
And he grew in Nazareth at Joseph's side. Under his watchful and solicitous eye
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
After this morning's meeting at your place of work, we are now gathered in this large stadium to participate in the Eucharist. Once more I wish to express gratitude to you, because on the day on which the Church venerates St. Joseph, a just man", who worked in Nazareth at the carpenter's bench, I had the privilege of meeting you in one of the factories where there are the workbenches of so many men residing in Terni and in the neighboring localities. That meeting was centered on the great problem of human work, to which this day particularly directs our thoughts and our hearts.
I greet you here for the second time in a fuller circle: accompanied by your families, your wives and children, relatives, neighbors and acquaintances. Joseph of Nazareth, "a just man", whose solemnity permits us to look with the eyes of faith at the great cause of human work, is simultaneously head of the home and head of the family: of the Holy Family, just as each of you, my brothers and sisters, is a husband and father, a wife and mother, responsible for the family and for the home. There is a close connection between work and the family: between your work and your family. St. Joseph is, with a special right, the Patron Saint of this bond. And so it is a good thing that, after our morning meeting which saw us gathered round your workbenches, we are able to meet here to dedicate the Holy Mass of the Solemnity of St. Joseph to families. To every family and to all families.
I wish to invite more cordially precisely these families to the eucharistic community, which expresses our family unity with God, the Father of Jesus Christ and our Father--and at the same time manifests the reciprocal unity of men, especially those who constitute one family.
Illustrious martyrs of this region
2. The Eucharist manifests and realizes the family unity of the whole Church. To take part in the Sacrifice of Christ, to nourish herself on his Body and his Blood, the Church gathers as a family at the table of the Divine Word and at the table of the Lord's Bread.
Today, the whole Church of Terni, Narni and Amelia participates in a particular way in this solemn eucharistic assembly.
I wish to greet this Church cordially as the family of the People of God with the Bishop Santo Bartolomeo Quadri, who is its pastor, and with the whole presbyterium. I greet the members of the chapters, the educators of the seminary, the parish priests and their collaborators. I also greet the men and women religious of the orders and congregations, who are carrying out their work in the area, making their valuable contribution to the building up of the People of God. I address a respectful thought to the civil authorities, who wished to honor this celebration of ours with their presence.
I wish to reserve a word of greeting for the representatives of the parish of Castelnuovo di Conza, which was hit by the earthquake, and with whom the faithful of this land have commendably established a twinning of solidarity. I also greet with particular cordiality the lay people engaged in the apostolate, especially those who have agreed to take an active part in the various kinds of associations operating both at the diocesan and at the parochial level. And I greet the young, whom I see present in such large numbers: may they always succeed in keeping their hearts open to the values proclaimed in the Gospel, committing themselves to building on them a future more worthy of man. A greeting, finally, to all the faithful of the diocesan communities which, in the daily accomplishment of their family and social tasks, bear witness before their brothers and sisters to the strength of their Christian convictions.
The Churches of Terni, Narni and Amelia can pride themselves on ancient traditions of faith, sealed by the blood of illustrious martyrs: Valentine, Giovenale, Firmina are names well known to you, which evoke the memory of difficult times, in which adherence to Christ not infrequently involved the sacrifice of one's life. May the example of dauntless fortitude that your holy Patrons have left you as a lasting heritage be, for every child of this land, a constant incentive to that courageous consistency of life, without which it is impossible to feel and be truly Christians. Following the example of those ancient Christians who died for their faith, may you also be able to live your faith today!
Joseph of Nazareth
3. The reading of the Gospel according to St. Matthew invites us to meditate on a particular moment in the life of Joseph of Nazareth, a moment full of divine content and at the same time of profound human truth. We read: "Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit" (Mt 1:18). When we listen to these words, there come to mind those other well-known words which we recite daily, in the morning, noon and evening prayer: "The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary and she conceived of the Holy Spirit".
Through the Holy Spirit, the Son of God was conceived in order to become a man, the son of Mary. This was the mystery of the Virgin, who replied to the words of the Annunciation: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word" (Lk 1:38).
And so it happened: "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (Jn 1:14). And above all he came to dwell in the womb of the Virgin who remaining a virgin--became a mother: "she was found to be with third of the Holy Spirit" (MT 1:18).
This was Mary's mystery. Joseph did not know this mystery. He did not know that in her whose bridegroom he was, even though, in obedience to Jewish law, he had not yet received her under his roof, there had been fulfilled that promise of faith made to Abraham, of which St. Paul speaks in the second reading today. That is, that there had been fulfilled in her, in Mary of the family of David, the prophecy which the prophet Nathan had once addressed to David. The prophecy and the promise of faith, whose fulfillment was awaited by the whole People, the Israel of divine election, and the whole of humanity.
This was Mary's mystery. Joseph did not know this mystery. She could not transmit it to him, because it was a mystery beyond the capacity of the human intellect and the possibilities of human language. It was not possible to transmit it by any human means. It was only possible to accept it from God and believe. Just as Mary believed.
Joseph did not know this mystery and for this reason he suffered a great deal inwardly. We read: "Her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly" (MT 1:19).
But a certain night came when Joseph too believed. The word of God was addressed to him and the mystery of Mary, his bride and wife, became clear for him. He believed that, lo, the promise of faith made to Abraham and the prophecy that King David had heard had been fulfilled. (Both Joseph and Mary were of the family of David).
"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).
"When Joseph woke from sleep -- the Evangelist concludes -- he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him" (MT 1: 24).
4. We gathered here, hear these words -- and we venerate Joseph, a just man. Joseph, of the house of David, who loved Mary most deeply, because he accepted her whole mystery. We venerate Joseph in whom there is reflected more fully than in all earthly fathers the Fatherhood of God himself. We venerate Joseph who built the family house on earth for the Eternal Word just as Mary gave him a human body. "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (Jn 1:14).
From this great mystery of faith let us direct our thoughts to our homes, to so many couples and families. Joseph of Nazareth is a particular revelation of the dignity of human fatherhood! Joseph of Nazareth, the carpenter, the man of work. Think of that, you, precisely you men of work of Terni, Narni, Amelia and of the whole of Italy, the whole of Europe and of the whole world.
The family rests on the dignity of human fatherhood -- on the responsibility of the man, husband and father, as also on his work. Joseph of Nazareth bears witness to this for us.
Are not the words that God speaks to him: "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife" (MT 1:20), addressed to each of you? Dear brothers, husbands and fathers of a family! "Do not fear to take. . .". Do not give up! It was said at the beginning: "Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife" (Gen 2:24). And Christ adds: "What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder" (Mk 10:9). The unity of the family, its stability, is one of the fundamental blessings of man and of society. At the basis of family unity there is the indissolubility of marriage -- if man, if society seek the ways that deprive marriage of its indissolubility and the family of its unity and stability, then they cut off, as it were, the very root of its health, and deprive themselves of one of the fundamental goods on which human life is built.
Dear brothers! May that voice which Joseph of Nazareth heard during that decisive night of his life always reach you, in particular when the danger of the destruction of the family looms up. "Do not fear to persevere"! "Do not give up"! Behave as that just man did.
Human fatherhood finds model in Joseph
5. Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary and that which is conceived in her (cf. MT 1:20). So God the Father says to the man with whom, in a way, he shared his fatherhood. God, dear brothers, in a sense shares his fatherhood with each of you. Not in the mysterious and supernatural way in which he did with Joseph of Nazareth . . . And yet every fatherhood on earth, every human fatherhood takes its beginning from him, and finds its model in him. Your human fatherhood, dear brothers, is always connected with motherhood. And what is conceived in the womb of the woman -- mother unites you spouses, husband and wife, with a particular bond that God the Creator of man blessed right "from the beginning". This is the bond of fatherhood and motherhood, which is formed from the moment when the man, the husband, finds in the motherhood of the woman the expression and confirmation of his human fatherhood.
Fatherhood is responsibility for life: for the life first conceived in the woman's womb and then born, in order that a new man, who is blood of your blood and flesh of your flesh, may be revealed. God who says: "do not abandon the woman, your wife", says at the same time: "receive the life conceived in her"! Just as he said to Joseph of Nazareth, although Joseph was not the blood father of him who was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary.
God says to every man: "accept the life conceived of you! Do not allow it to be suppressed!" God says this with the voice of his commandments, with the voice of the Church. But he says so above all with the voice of conscience. The voice of human conscience. This voice is univocal, in spite of everything that is done to prevent people from listening to it and to stifle it, despite everything that is done, that is, so that man and woman will not listen to this simple and clear voice of conscience.
Men of work, men of hard work know this simple voice of conscience. What they feel most deeply is precisely that bond which unites work and the family. Work is for the family, since work is for man (and not vice versa) -- and precisely the family, first and above all the family, is the specific place of man. It is the environment in which he is conceived, is born and matures, the environment for which he assumes the most serious responsibility, in which he fulfills himself daily, the environment of his earthly happiness and human hope. And so today, on St. Joseph's day, knowing the hearts of the workers, their honesty and responsibility, I express the conviction that precisely they will assure and consolidate these two fundamental goods of man and society: the unity of the family and respect for the life conceived under the mother's heart.
Blessings on your homes and families
6. "Blessed are those who dwell in thy house, Lord" (cf. Ps 83 [84], 4) I wish you happiness, dear brothers and sisters. I wish you that happiness that springs from a pure conscience. I wish you that happiness that the home offers. From the house of Joseph, Mary and Jesus in Nazareth, from that modest workbench, joined to it, I draw in thought and in the heart a continuous line, as it were, as far as these modern work yards of industrial work in which you toil -- and I extend it further: to your homes, to your families. May the happiness that comes from God reign in them. May it be stronger than all the ordeals of life, from which man is never free on earth. And above all may man mature in your homes, in your families, according to the specific extent of his dignity.
Of the dignity given to him by Jesus of Nazareth . . . Jesus of whom people spoke as "the carpenter's son" (MT 13:55). While he was of the same substance as the Father, the Son of God became incarnate and was born as a man from the Virgin Mary of the Holy Spirit.
And he grew in Nazareth at Joseph's side. Under his watchful and solicitous eye
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Meditation: Feast of St Joseph, Husband of Mary by Saint Alphonsus Liguori
Meditation: Feast of St Joseph, Husband of Mary by Saint Alphonsus Liguori
First Meditation
To understand how powerful is the intercession of Saint Joseph with Jesus Christ, we need only to know what the Gospel says, "and He was subject to them" - Luke 2:51. For thirty years, then, the Son of God attentively obeyed Joseph and Mary. Joseph had only to indicate his will by a word or a sign, and he was immediately obeyed by Jesus. This humility of Jesus in obeying, teaches us that the dignity of Saint Joseph was above that of all the Saints, with the exception of the Divine Mother.
Second Meditation
Let us now attend to what Saint Teresa says of the confidence which we should have in the protection of Saint Joseph; she says, "Our Lord seems to have granted power to other Saints to help in one necessity; experience proves that this Saint helps us in all; and that Our Lord wishes us to understand, that as on earth He was subject to him, so also in Heaven He refuses him nothing that he asks. Other persons whom I advised to recommend themselves to him have experienced this. I never knew anyone who served him, by practicing some particular devotion in his honor, who did not always progress in virtue. I entreat those who do not believe what I say, to try it themselves. I cannot understand how it is possible to think of the Queen of Angels, and of all the labors which she underwent during the childhood of Jesus, without returning thanks to Saint Joseph for all the services he rendered at that time to the Mother and the Son".
Third Meditation
We should especially be devout to Saint Joseph, in order that the Saint may obtain us a good death. He, on account of having saved the infant Jesus from the snares of Herod, has the special privilege of delivering dying persons from the snares of the Devil. Moreover, on account of the services which he rendered for so many years to Jesus and Mary, having by his labors provided them a dwelling and food, he has the privilege of obtaining the special assistance of Jesus and Mary for his devout clients at death.
My holy protector, Saint Joseph, on account of my sins I deserve a bad death; but if thou defendest me, I shall not be lost. Thou wast not only a great friend of my Judge, but thou wast also His guardian and adopted father; recommend me to thy Jesus, Who loves thee so much. I place myself under thy protection; accept me for thy perpetual servant. And by that holy company of Jesus and Mary, which thou didst enjoy on earth, obtain that I may never more be separated from their love; and, in fine, by the attendance of Jesus and Mary, which thou hadst in death, obtain for me, that at my death I also may have the special assistance of Jesus and Mary. Most holy Virgin, by the love which thou didst bear to thy holy spouse Saint Joseph, help me at the hour of my death.
Amen
Monday, September 19, 2011
From the General Audience of March 19, 1980 - Blessed John Paul II
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.
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).
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.
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.
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!
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.
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
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
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
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
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!
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.
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