F E AT U R E
THE THEQUIET SAINT
KNOCK SHRINE AND THE CENTRAL ROLE OF ST JOSEPH
QUIET SAINT
AS WE CELEBRATE THE FEAST OF ST JOSEPH ON MARCH 19, WE CONSIDER A MAN OF FAITH AND COURAGE, WHO INSPIRES US TO TRUST THAT GOD HAS A BETTER PLAN FOR US THAN WE CAN HOPE
KNOCK SHRINE AND
BY FR RICHARD GIBBONS THE CENTRAL ROLE
OF ST JOSEPH
M
y favourite St Joseph quote: “.......” Apologies, I hope you smiled! Not one word of Joseph is recorded in Scripture, yet we get a distinct feel for him: a man of honour who stands by Mary in what must be very confusing conception and pregnancy to his mind, a man of faith who trusts that the hand of God is guiding events, and a man who seeks to nurture, provide for and protect his young family. These aspects of St Joseph mark
Photo: Sinéad Mallee
Detail from the statue of St Joseph at Knock Shrine
32 REALITY MARCH 2022
him as a remarkable individual and a fitting foster father for Jesus. Of course, his calling as foster father was not without its difficulties and uncertainties. Imagine his worry, along with Mary’s, when Jesus went missing, or perhaps his confusion over his son’s change in career at 30 years of age when, for that particular time, Jesus should have already settled down and had a family. That is, of course, presuming that Joseph was still alive – we just don’t know. My point is, Joseph was an ordinary man trying to make sense of tectonic change, and as such he has a lot to say to us today. ‘GO TO JOSEPH’ Our lives have been transformed by COVID-19, and even our relationships with one another have been affected. As I write this, I’m still trying to get in to see my mother in a nursing home – it is very difficult to keep a relationship going through a window! Knowing that the nursing home in question is an excellent one and simply trying
to keep staff and residents safe doesn’t take away from the sense of rupture of normal human interaction. For others, including those of you reading this, it may be the loss of a loved one whose funeral you could not attend, loss of a job, break-up of a relationship or a whole host of other changes which have taken place as a consequence of the pandemic. The true fallout from the pandemic from a human point of view has yet to be fully understood but the changes were, and are, tectonic. I see Joseph as an example in fortitude for us at this time: someone who may have felt out of his depth in raising Jesus but nevertheless had faith in God’s plan, even if he didn’t fully grasp it in its entirety. Joseph points the way for us to trust that God has a better plan for us than we can hope and imagine, even if we don’t fully understand it ourselves. In recent years, statues of the ‘Sleeping St Joseph’ have become increasingly popular after Pope Francis admitted to keeping one beside his bed. If he has a worry
The interior of the Apparition Chapel at Knock Shrine, with St Joseph on the left
