Preparatory Prayer:
"O God, be not Thou far from me; O my God, make haste to my help." Psalm 70.
Setting:
The model home and family who lived at Nazareth. In my prayer today I am invited to concentrate my thoughts on St. Joseph, who, though the least in virtue, was still given supreme authority over Jesus and Mary. It is likely that I find him at the back of the kitchen in his little workshop, perhaps with his knee on a plank and a saw in his right hand, perhaps standing at his table and using his plane or hammering in nails or putting the finishing touches on a piece of carpentry a small table or chair, or a cabinet or press. The Son of God stands by his side, watching and learning and helping. Mary remains outside in the kitchen, weaving at her loom or mending the clothes or washing the pottery after their meal. In this homely atmosphere it should not be difficult to pray.
Fruit:
A better understanding of St. Joseph's unique position in the divine economy, and a consequently deeper and more solid devotion to him.
To St. Joseph Holy Church applies the words that "he was beloved of God, and of men, whose memory is in benediction." The application of that text to him is easy to understand when we remember that his position is, unquestionably, at the head of God's saints. This is so because God does not call a person to some special mission without decreeing to give him the graces that fit him for it. Now, St. Joseph's mission was to be the husband of Mary, the foster father of Jesus Christ, and Patron of the Universal Church.
And this greatest of saints is not a priest or a religious, nor an apostle bearing the gospel to the ends of the earth. He is a layman, living in his own home, with the wife God gave him; and earning his bread by a humble trade. This man is "beloved of God" because of the wonderful virtue he practiced in the ordinary environment of everyday life.
He is the model husband. In days when our ears are deafened with talk of living together and easy divorce, the example of Joseph's fidelity and chastity is an inspiration and a challenge. This is the first virtue which made him "beloved of God." He was Mary's husband, but he married her because moved by a love deeper far and more sanctifying than any based on mere human affection. He would stand to Mary in the relation of the elm to the vine, since he espoused her for no selfish ends but only to share her burdens. Hence Mary, his wife, could declare to the angel that she "knew not man."
Such complete abstinence from the privileges of married life could not and should not be held up as an ideal for every married couple. But the very fact of such angelic purity between man and wife calls at least for that devotion and perseverance commanded by God to all Christians. An old man nearly eighty said to a priest: "Father, we're more than fiftyfive years married and I think we love each other as much today as ever we did." Every Catholic husband will be able to say the same if he keeps before his eyes the chastity of Joseph and his devotedness to Mary, and strives to reproduce them in his relations with his wife.
A second reason why he is "beloved of God" is that God chose him to be spouse of Mary and foster father of Jesus Christ. This very fact implies that God decreed for Joseph very exceptional graces. "If God," writes Pope Leo XIII, "gave Joseph as a spouse to the Virgin, He assuredly gave him not only as a companion in life, a witness of her virginity, and the guardian of her honor, but also as a sharer in her exalted dignity." It is well known that the influence of a saintly woman on her husband can be farreaching indeed. Many a man has been led by the example of his wife to leave the paths of tepidity in God's service and scale the heights.
Even the sight of a holy person has been known to awaken a vehement desire to imitate him. The pagan emperor Maximinus, when submitting St. Lucian to trial, made him stand behind a curtain, dreading that if he had to look upon his face he might be irresistibly forced to accept the Christian Faith. Indeed, Lucian converted as many by his appearance and manner as by his miracles.
It is easy to argue, then, to the effect upon Joseph of constant companionship with the perfect spouse God gave him. It is easy, as I kneel here at prayer, to beg from Mary and Joseph a blessing on our own parent's married life, on all Christian families. This is the time too to ask for that fidelity to Christ's standards in marriage which are so widely ignored today.
Joseph was also "beloved of God" because from all eternity it was decreed that he should stand in the place of the father of the Messiah, to feed Him and protect Him, to earn the money which would give God a home. At the last day the just will cry out in amazement when the King tells them He was in need and they helped Him. They have no memory of doing so. But Joseph must remember, for it was his privilege and duty actually to labor for the support of Jesus Christ. The fact that Joseph was God's choice for this sublime task proves that he was of all men the best fitted to discharge it.
St. Joseph, model father and model husband, teach us to follow where you have given such a noble lead. Teach us to sanctify ourselves by using the ordinary means, the daily opportunities, of practicing mutual charity, of wielding authority and submitting to it, all in imitation of the family over which God called you to preside.