Saint Joseph’s Day – March 19

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Saint Joseph’s Day – March 19

It would be misleading to gauge Saint Joseph’s importance by the number of words allocated to him in Scripture.  Despite there being seemingly few and relatively simple verses about Saint Joseph in the Bible we know that Saint Joseph is a significant figure.  After all, he was the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus!

St. Joseph truly is the silent figure of the New Testament.  The Gospel does not record one spoken verse for him. Still, what this great saint did in his life for God speaks volumes.  We can learn much from the example of Saint Joseph.

St Joseph's Day  
  • Hard Work:  We know he was a carpenter, a working man.
  • Compassion:   When he discovered Mary was pregnant, he knew the child was not his.  He planned to divorce Mary but he was concerned for her suffering and safety.
  • Faith and Trust:  He was obedient to whatever God asked of him without knowing the outcome.  Joseph immediately and without question followed God’s Will as given to him by the messages of angels.
  • Parental Love:  He treated Jesus as his own son.  His one concern was for the safety of this child entrusted to him. He left his home to protect Jesus and even settled in the obscure town of Nazareth out of fear for Jesus’ life.
  • Respect for God:  He followed God’s commands as well as the traditions and customs of the Jewish faith.
  • Happy Death: Joseph does not appear in Jesus’ public life.  He probably had died before Jesus entered public ministry. Joseph is the patron of the dying because, assuming he died before Jesus’ public life, he died with Jesus and Mary close to him, the way we all would like to leave this earth.

 


Saint Joseph,  patron of the universal Church,
watch over the Church as carefully as you watched over Jesus.
Help protect it and guide it as you did with your adopted son.   
Amen

 

 

 

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“Before all, and above all, attention shall be paid to the care of the sick, so that they shall be served as if they were Christ Himself.”
–St. Benedict of Nursia, The Rule of Saint Benedict