March 19, 2020
“Joseph, Son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for she has conceived by the Holy Spirit.”
Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. Matthew (Mt 1:16, 18-21, 24a)
Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Christ. The origin of Jesus Christ was as follows: Mary, his mother, was betrothed to Joseph, and before they came together, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her husband, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her secretly. But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as 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.” When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him.
In a year of so many tribulations for the whole world, struck by punishments that humble human pride, while at the same time seeking the mercy of the Father as the remedy for our faults, God grants us, in His special providence, the glory of St. Joseph, proclaimed 150 years ago as the patron of the universal Church. Though the virtues, titles, and invocations under which we can delve deeper into the mystery of this singular holiness are countless, we wish to focus today on that grace, superior to all others, which is the reason for St. Joseph's being and the fundamental reason why the Church venerates him as the first of saints and her most powerful intercessor. We refer, of course, to the mission that was assigned to him from eternity and for which he received all the virtues we admire in him: piety, virginity, prudence, and fidelity. And what mission could this be, if not to be the spouse of the Mother of God and the adoptive father of the Incarnate Son? Indeed, this was the very purpose for which the Holy Trinity predestined him in her eternal counsels; it was for the head of the Holy Family that the Father of all fatherhood conceived him; it was to be the zealous custodian, in preference to all the righteous, that the Divine Word formed him, and to be the chaste guardian of the Immaculate Virgin that the Holy Spirit sanctified him. So tightly bound are St. Joseph's plans to Christ and Our Lady that we can say that, in the same decree by which God determined to regenerate humanity through the Incarnation of His Son, not only was the Blessed Virgin included, but also St. Joseph, the one to whom the Word would take flesh. Because in the same act of will by which God wished to give mankind the remedy of salvation through Christ's Blood, He also wished that the woman from whom He would be born would be united in sacred matrimony to a righteous man prepared for such a high mission: “The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph” (Luke 1:27). This is why many theologians affirm that St. Joseph belongs not only to the order of grace, where all other saints belong, but also to the order of the hypostatic union, although in an extrinsic, moral, and mediated manner, inferior to that which corresponds to the Virgin Mary. St. Joseph, in fact, did not physically cooperate in the Incarnation of the Word, and it is for this reason that his dignity and the worship due to him are inferior to that of the Mother of God. However, even though Joseph's participation in the hypostatic order is confined to the sphere of moral causes, as the guardian of Mary's honor and virginity and the custodian of the Child Jesus, his role as a father, in terms of conjugal rights and moral authority, is no less true, as the Scripture attests: “His father and mother marveled at what was said about him” (Luke 2:33), and as the Virgin herself acknowledges: “Behold, your father and I have been searching for you” (Luke 2:48). Just as Mary, the Mother of the Head who is Christ, can be said to be—and indeed is—the Mother of the Church, so too St. Joseph, the adoptive and virginal father of Christ, can be said to be—and indeed is—the spiritual father of the entire Catholic Church, triumphant, suffering, and militant. It is with our hearts focused on such a mystery, with our spirits comforted by having such a father and most provident protector, that we must invoke the help and patronage of St. Joseph, so that he may deliver us from the evils of these sorrowful times, if it be God's will, and grant us that peace and health that the world is always incapable of providing. — St. Joseph, protector of the Holy Church, pray for us!
References:
Cf. Pius IX, Decree “Quemadmodum Deus,” Dec. 8, 1870.
The text of this homily is inspired by some ideas from Fr. R. Garrigou-Lagrange, “De præstantia sancti Ioseph inter omnes sanctos,” in: Angelicum (V/2), April-June 1928, pp. 205-208.
Sorce:
https://padrepauloricardo.org/episodios/solenidade-de-sao-jose-mmxx
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