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Prince William County Catholic
Saint Joseph, The Human Face of Fatherhood by Colleen Rooney
Joseph was the man God the Father chose from all eternity to be the human face of fatherhood to His Eternally Begotten Son, the Incarnate Word, Jesus. Pope Francis has proclaimed this year--beginning on December 8, 2020 and concluding on December 8, 2021--as the Year of St. Joseph. It is the 150th anniversary of St. Joseph being named patron of the Universal Church by Blessed Pope Pius IX. As with any year of special designation in the Church, additional graces flow from honoring and participating in the prayers and religious events associated with the proclamation. Pope Francis has written an apostolic letter, Patris Corde, (“With a Father’s Heart”) to honor St. Joseph and describe his many virtues as he accepted God’s role for him as protector and supporter of Mary and Jesus. How does a man teach a boy how to be a father? By being a father to him. Joseph is referred to as Jesus’ father a few times in Scripture. St. Luke tells us of the presentation of the baby Jesus in the Temple. In his Gospel, Joseph is mentioned as the father of Jesus, not simply the husband of Mary. (Luke 2:33: “And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them….”) The virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, refers to Joseph as Jesus’ father (Luke 2:48:
“Behold your father and I have been looking for you anxiously,” Mary said to Jesus upon finding the boy in the Temple with Joseph at her side.) The towns people in Nazareth who heard Jesus speaking in the synagogue referred to Joseph as the father of Jesus. (Luke 4:22: “And all spoke well of him, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth; and they said, ‘Is not this Joseph’s son?”) Clearly, Joseph is identified as the human foster father of Jesus by the Virgin Mary, those present at the Presentation in the Temple, and the townsfolk in Nazareth who had lived in the same community with Jesus, Mary, and Joseph for many years. Joseph was known as Jesus’ father. He was chosen by the heavenly Father to take Mary as his wife, to love and protect her and to be the human foster father to her Son. Joseph was the legal father of Jesus according to Jewish law, and he accepted his God-given calling to be the man who would show Jesus human fatherhood. From Joseph’s first appearance in the Gospel of Matthew, we see a picture of a quiet, thoughtful man. (Matt. 1:18 -24: “When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit, and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to send her
