Saturday March 19, 2022

SOLEMNITY OF ST. JOSEPH – Patron of the Church

Today’s gospel calls Joseph “a just man.” It is a title that the scriptures of the Old and the New Testaments give to people who try to live according to God’s plans. Indeed, he played an important role in God’s plan of salvation; God entrusted our Savior, Jesus, to his care. He experienced that his important role brought him many difficulties, but he stood the test and served God well, as a man of faith, generous, and indeed “just.”

First Reading: 2 Samuel 7:4-7, 12-16

But that night, the word of God came to Nathan saying, “Go and tell my servant David: This is God’s word on the matter: You’re going to build a ‘house’ for me to live in? Why, I haven’t lived in a ‘house’ from the time I brought the children of Israel up from Egypt till now. All that time I’ve moved about with nothing but a tent. And in all my travels with Israel, did I ever say to any of the leaders I commanded to shepherd Israel, ‘Why haven’t you built me a house of cedar?’

“Furthermore, God has this message for you: God himself will build you a house! When your life is complete and you’re buried with your ancestors, then I’ll raise up your child, your own flesh and blood, to succeed you, and I’ll firmly establish his rule. He will build a house to honor me, and I will guarantee his kingdom’s rule permanently. I’ll be a father to him, and he’ll be a son to me. When he does wrong, I’ll discipline him in the usual ways, the pitfalls and obstacles of this mortal life. But I’ll never remove my gracious love from him, as I removed it from Saul, who preceded you and whom I most certainly did remove. Your family and your kingdom are permanently secured. I’m keeping my eye on them! And your royal throne will always be there, rock solid.”

Gospel: Matthew 1:16; 18-25

When the Babylonian exile ended,

Jeconiah had Shealtiel,
Shealtiel had Zerubbabel,
Zerubbabel had Abiud,
Abiud had Eliakim,
Eliakim had Azor,
Azor had Zadok,
Zadok had Achim,
Achim had Eliud,
Eliud had Eleazar,
Eleazar had Matthan,
Matthan had Jacob,
Jacob had Joseph, Mary’s husband,
the Mary who gave birth to Jesus,
the Jesus who was called Christ.

The birth of Jesus took place like this. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they came to the marriage bed, Joseph discovered she was pregnant. (It was by the Holy Spirit, but he didn’t know that.) Joseph, chagrined but noble, determined to take care of things quietly so Mary would not be disgraced.

While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God’s angel spoke in the dream: “Joseph, son of David, don’t hesitate to get married. Mary’s pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God’s Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus—‘God saves’—because he will save his people from their sins.” This would bring the prophet’s embryonic sermon to full term:

Watch for this—a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son;
They will name him Immanuel (Hebrew for “God is with us”)

Then Joseph woke up. He did exactly what God’s angel commanded in the dream: He married Mary. But he did not consummate the marriage until she had the baby. He named the baby Jesus.

Prayer

God our Father,
you entrusted your Son Jesus
to the dedicated care of St. Joseph.
Give us the faith of this just man,
the patron of your Church,
that we may always listen to you,
and serve you in everything you ask of us
also when we do not understand
where you are leading us.

Make us live close to your Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Reflection:

19 March 2022 – St. Joseph

Lk 2:41-51 [Or Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24]

A vocation to guard life

Today the Church celebrates the solemnity of St. Joseph, the head of the Holy Family of Nazareth and the Patron of the Universal Church. St. Joseph’s task was to protect Jesus and Mary. Pope Francis in his catechesis on St. Joseph, explains that “Jesus and Mary, His Mother are the most precious treasure of our faith, and this treasure is guarded by St. Joseph.”

Pope Francis narrates seven virtues that are evident in the life of Joseph, as described in the Gospels for our reflection and imitation. All the parents out there, if you need some guidelines on how to set up your family after the manner of the Holy Family of Nazareth, pay attention to the Apostolic Letter of Pope Francis titled, Patris Corde – “With a Fathers’ Heart.” The pope narrates the following seven virtues of St. Joseph in his Apostolic letter:
St. Joseph is:
1. a beloved father,
2. a tender and loving father,
3. an obedient father,
4. an accepting father;
5. a father who is creatively courageous,
6. a working father,
7. a father in the shadows.

A man who was entrusted with the care of most precious possession of God the Father, could not be anything less than that. Youngsters who follow the game of soccer must have come across the concept of “total football”. It demands that all the 11 players on the field must excel in all aspects of the game. For parents in families, St. Joseph and his Holy Family could be a school of parenthood. A “Total Father” from whom young parents could draw lessons and inspirations.

And this is the same vocation we have all received – a vocation to love, care and protect our families! “To love the Church, to guard the Church, and to walk with the Church. The Church is all of us, everyone. It is our vocation to Guard one another on the road.

St. Joseph teaches us a very beautiful mark of the Christian vocation: to guard. To guard life, to guard human development. To be a Christian is to be like St. Joseph: he must guard. To be a Christian is not only to receive and to confess the faith, but also to guard life, one’s own life, the life of others, the life of the Church.”

The expression used to refer to the Joseph of the Old Testament, “Go to Joseph” (Ite ad Joseph) is applied to Joseph of Nazareth. After all, God himself turned to Joseph and entrusted to him all that was precious to Him: Jesus and Mary. Let us entrust ourselves, our families and our Church to him as well. Let us decide today, to “Go to Joseph!”

Video available on Youtube: A vocation to guard life

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