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!”
