On International Fathers’ Day, when we acknowledge with gratitude the guardianship and sacrifices of our fathers, it is indeed rewarding to meditate on the fatherhood of St. Joseph We live in a world where fatherhood is often disregarded and considered optional, and a father’s role is reduced to mere biological function.
It is at this juncture St. Joseph, the father of Jesus, is a powerful reminder of what fatherhood really means and of the importance of a father’s role. He trusted God and was in turn found infinitely trustworthy.
He defied convention to protect Mary; had to give up his projects and plans to take up the plans God had for him. He undertook hazardous trips to Bethlehem and later to Egypt to protect his family; he watched over and accompanied Jesus as he grew “in wisdom, age and grace.” Hence we have the model educator in St. Joseph. He taught Jesus to be a man.
We know so little and yet, paradoxically, so much about St. Joseph. The person of Jesus himself is the textbook from which we learn about his father, Joseph. What the gospels do not explicitly tell, we learn from Jesus, for he cannot have been other than what his father had helped him to become: hard-working, humorous and tender-hearted. Today, the Church venerates St. Joseph as a model of purity, protector of the Church, patron of the dying, of immigrants, workers, pilgrims and travellers but, above all, as a father.
St. Joseph certainly set the bar high for modern-day fathers, yet by his very example, he demonstrated that it was possible follow his example to be a righteous man by listening to, trusting in and obeying God’s word. A father is a source of strength and support. He strives to provide for and raise his children to differentiate right from wrong, to develop sound moral values. A father puts the needs of his family before his own. A good father teaches his children the value of hard work, courage, honesty and good judgment, which we see in their fullness in the life of Jesus.
A dad encourages his children to live lives of holiness. Most of all, through his own life of faith, a father teaches his children by example to cultivate a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father through prayer, to live their lives according to God’s word and guide them firmly along the path to their eternal, Heavenly destination. Whether he realises it or not, it is through such dedication and commitment to his family, that a dad emulates St. Joseph.
St. Joseph experienced the same difficulties in life we all do, yet he lived an exemplary life and established an ideal that is well worth emulating for all fathers who have come after him. As St. Matthew describes him in his gospel, Joseph was a “righteous man” (Matthew 1:19). For Joseph, doing God’s will was paramount. Each time God told him to do something, Joseph’s response was immediate and he would carry out the task at hand the way God wanted it done.
