May Day-St Joseph

St Joseph the garden of all virtues

St. Jerome presents three reasons why God chose blessed Joseph to be the spouse of Mary and Jesus’ foster father. First, he tells us that Joseph was chosen so that our Savior’s genealogy would be known as coming from a line of kings for while both Joseph and Mary were of the kingly line of David only the male was considered to confer this distinction. Second, St. Joseph was espoused to Mary to preserve her reputation (and life) for pregnancy out of wedlock was a crime punishable by stoning. Third, Joseph was chosen to guard and provide for the holy family for, as we know, this family endured all manner of hardship.To these reasons, St. Ignatius adds a fourth. He says God pre-ordained that Joseph be the spouse of Mary so that the devil would be uncertain concerning the truth about our blessed Lord… was He the awaited Messiah or no?

If we examine the deeds of Joseph we find a soul boasting a garden of virtue.
Joseph never grew too anxious; he was confident in the call he had to be the foster father of Jesus. He loved his wife, Mary, and treated her with great dignity and care. He never said much. We see this from Sacred Scripture: He never says one word in all of Scripture, but in his silence, we find the wisdom of peace and joy.
We need a saint like Joseph today. In our busy and fast-paced world, we get caught up with the many distractions. We are thrown off guard by a little mishap. Look to Joseph as he led his family to Egypt, away from those who sought to kill Jesus. He was calm, directed, and full of trust. It was his strength in silence that led the holy family to safety.
In summary Joseph was righteous. He lived in obedience to the Mosaic Law.
He was forgiving; when it seemed that Mary had committed adultery and thereby sinned against God and him, Joseph forgave her and planned to divorce her without having her executed for her apparent sin.
He was a man of faith. He believed in the virgin-birth of Jesus on the basis of an angel's message in a dream.
He was decisive. He swiftly responded to the angel's warning and immediately took Jesus and Mary to Egypt to save Jesus from being murdered by Herod.
Joseph was patient. When he and Mary searched for Jesus three days and found him in the temple, there is no report of anger or revenge, only worry and relief.
Above all, Joseph was unselfish in his vocation as foster father to a most exceptional child.
Joseph's greatest glory rests on this fact: God sent Jesus to make all of us divine, and God sent Joseph to guide, protect and nurture the human nature of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity.
St. Joseph is our model. He is known to be the patron of the interior life. We should find ourselves praying daily, “St. Joseph, increase my love for the interior life.” This will give us the strength to be those contemplatives in the midst of the world that God desires us to be. St. Joseph is our guide, trust in his silent presence and follow his humble example.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.