We have just celebrated the feast of Saint Joseph in this Year of St. Joseph. This week, we reflect on Pope Francis’ apostolic letter, Patris Corde (With a father’s heart, in which he presents Joseph as the “Beloved Father.”
We have often come across the usage of “foster father” to describe St. Joseph as if to avoid giving the impression that he was really the father of Jesus! Pope Francis reminds us with the title of the letter itself that we no longer put any sort of disclaimer before the word “father” when describing St. Joseph. He is father to Jesus and a beloved father, by God’s will.
The apostolic letter begins with this description of the saint: “The greatness of Saint Joseph is that he was the spouse of Mary and the father of Jesus. In this way, he placed himself, in the words of Saint John Chrysostom, ‘at the service of the entire plan of salvation’.” And both of them, Joseph and Mary, are “at the service of the plan of salvation” at God’s invitation. Pope St. John Paul II describes the parents of Jesus as the the first “guardians of the mystery of salvation.” Just as Mary carried out her mission as the mother of Jesus, Joseph accepted his role as the guardian by being father to Jesus.
Joseph is beloved not only for his immediate family, but for the whole Church. He is beloved because he first loved. He loved Mary enough to protect her from scandal. If not for his love for his wife and child, he wouldn’t risk his own reputation among his relatives and friends. By taking up the guardianship of the family, his own life was at risk. And he loved God enough to trust and respond to the promptings of the angel without doubt. He served God and his plan of salvation by being a faithful husband and father, day after day, till the end of his life.
In his ordinary tasks from his “human vocation to domestic love” were the means by which he made a “superhuman oblation of himself”. And this is the same vocation we have all received—a vocation to love, care and protect our families! By being faithful to our vocation to be good parents and good spouses, we help to continue God’s plan of salvation in the world—a world that stands in need of love, compassion and healing. At the same time, we open ourselves up to respond to the call of God.
Pope Francis points out that Joseph’s faithfulness to his service of fatherhood has led the Church to put great trust in his protection and intercession. The expression used of the Old Testament Joseph: Go to Joseph (Ite ad Joseph) is applied to Joseph of Nazareth and we do well to heed such advice. After all, God himself turned to Joseph and entrusted to him all that was dear to him, Jesus and Mary. Let us entrust ourselves to him as well.
