The Good Word

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Hello and welcome to the Word, bringing you the Good News of Jesus Christ every day from the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province. I am Fr. Karl Esker from the Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn, NY. Today is the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.Our reading is taken from the holy gospel according to Matthew.Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.The gospel of the Lord.HomilyBecause March 19th was the 4th Sunday of Lent, we get to celebrate the feast of St. Joseph on Monday, today. I am glad that the feast of St. Joseph is considered that important to the Church, because we know so little about this very important member of the holy family. His “yes” to God’s revelation was as important as Mary’s, and he also had a very important role in raising Jesus to become the man he became. The title of the feast exalts Saint Joseph as the spouse of the blessed Virgin Mary, which is what we hear in the beginning of today’s gospel: “Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary;” but further on, when the angel instructs Joseph to take Mary, who was with child, into his home, the angel tells him: “you are to name (the child) Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” By this act, Joseph takes on the role of father to Jesus, and makes him a descendent of king David, fulfilling the prophecy we hear in today’s first reading.Joseph may not have been the biological father of Jesus, but became the father of Jesus through faith and God’s grace. He had a faith as great as Abraham’s and a relationship as close to God. St. Paul calls that righteousness. Matthew confirms that Joseph was a righteous man, so that when Joseph thought of quietly divorcing Mary because of her pregnancy, it only took a word from God by the angel in a dream for him to change his plans and take Mary into his home. Luke shows Joseph as a pious man who made sure that Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day and that a thanksgiving offering for the birth of a firstborn son was made in the temple on the fortieth day. Righteousness here is not a sense of duty, but a love of God that manifests itself in love of family and love of neighbor and a joy in celebrating the religious moments of life.Joseph loved Mary and Jesus. Luke shows this in how Joseph cared for Mary on the trip to Bethlehem and in preparing a place for her to give birth, simple and poor as it was. Matthew show this in how attentive Joseph was to God’s word in protecting Mary and Jesus by leading them into Egypt to escape Herod, and on returning, by going to Nazareth where they would be safer. Luke gives us the last picture of Joseph in the gospels as he desperately searches for the twelve-year-old Jesus in Jerusalem. Joseph is silent as Mary calls attention to Jesus’ behavior. I wonder if he wasn’t just a little proud of Jesus’ independence. I also wonder how he felt as Jesus named God as his father. There is so much we don’t know about Joseph. We know he taught Jesus to be an upright Jewish man and taught him his carpenter’s trade. And Joseph probably died in Nazareth before Jesus began his public ministry, because at this point the gospels are silent about Joseph. We can be sure, however, that Joseph was a man who cared, and cared deeply, about his family, his neighbors and his faith.All of us who have to care for others should take Joseph as our guide. We can learn much from him. May God bless you.

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