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ST. JOSEPH OF NAZARETH
Pope Francis has placed the year 2020-2021 under the spiritual guidance and protection of St. Joseph. On this occasion he wrote an Apostolic Letter entitled ‘Patris Corde’ (With a father’s heart). In his letter, Pope Francis mentions 7 characteristics of St. Joseph:
1. A beloved father
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Every Wednesday, for over forty years, Pope Francis recited the following prayer: “Glorious Patriarch St. Joseph, whose power makes the impossible possible, come to my aid in these times of anguish and difficulty. Take under your protection the serious and troubling situations that I commend to you. Let it not be said that I invoked you in vain, and since you can do everything with Jesus and Mary, show me that your goodness is as great as your power. Amen.”
2. A tender and loving father
“St. Joseph teaches us that amid the tempests of life, we must never be afraid to let the Lord steer our course. At times, we want to be in complete control, yet God always sees the bigger picture.”
3. An obedient father
“In every situation, Joseph declared his own “Yes”, like Mary at the Annunciation and Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.”
4. An accepting father
“He did not look for shortcuts, but confronted reality with open eyes and accepted personal responsibility for it.”
5. A courageous father
“I consider St. Joseph the special patron of all those forced to leave native lands because of war, hatred, persecution and poverty.”
6. A working father
“Let us implore St. Joseph the Worker to express our firm conviction that no young person, no person at all, nor family should be without work!” 7. A father in the shadows
“In a way, we are like Joseph: the earthly shadow of the heavenly Father, who makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. And a shadow that follows his Son.”
St. Joseph building a boat. Detail from a reredos in the church of the Holy Spirit in Salamanca, Spain.
The silence of Joseph
Silence enveloped everything about Joseph. This was an aura of deep contemplation. St. Joseph was always in union with God; neither daily labor nor sleep caused him distraction. He reminds us of the primacy of the interior and contemplative life.
We picture St. Joseph as a silent worker, who suffered in silence as well. He did not complain, and he did not grow angry at God and say: “Why are you doing this, why do we have to flee to Egypt?” We should ask ourselves: “Do I have enough silence in my life? Do I spend enough time in prayer? Do I use my speech for lying, gossiping or backbiting? Or, do I truly follow St. Joseph, by being a man of integrity and silence?”
