In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In this video about Saint Joseph, the adoptive father of Jesus and husband
of the Virgin Mary
we want to share the purpose of making known his great figure
to help us to love him more by knowing him better.
His greatness is above all saints and angels.
After the Virgin Mary, he is the holiest saint,
the one who has been closest to divinity.
He has touched God made flesh with his own hands and has been able to truly tell Him: You are my son.
All his privileges and all his dignity come from being the husband of the Virgin Mary,
the father of Jesus and at the same time, from being a just and good man.
God placed Saint Joseph at the head of His family.
How many times did Saint Joseph play with Jesus?
And what about how much he taught Jesus to work?
And above all, how Saint Joseph
would show Jesus a foolproof love!
Saint Joseph is the man of silence.
He doesn't
say a word to us in the Holy Scriptures.
But, with his quiet and reserved demeanor,
he teaches us to be humble and to fulfill our daily obligations quietly and without fanfare.
How many times would he suffer for not having something better to give to Jesus!
How many times would he go hungry and thirsty on his way to and sojourn in Egypt!
But his whole life was at the service of Jesus and Mary.
And he knew how to fulfill his mission well.
That is why
God has elevated him above all the saints.
Very few biblical texts are usually applied
to Saint Joseph.
He is the faithful and prudent administrator whom the master will put in charge
of his servants
to distribute the ration in his due time (Luke 12:42).
Guardian of the Lord, who
will be glorified (Proverbs 27:18). The faithful man, who will be praised (Proverbs 28:20). Could
we possibly find a man like this, filled with the spirit of God? (Genesis 41:38).
And God says to him: I have made you the father of many peoples (Romans 4:17).
Well done,
good and trustworthy servant; come and join in your master's happiness." (Matthew 25:21-23).
A figure of Saint Joseph is Noah, as he welcomed in the ark the dove bearing an olive branch, which
announced the end of the flood and the salvation of men. Saint Joseph welcomed Mary, the mystical
dove, who brings salvation to the world by giving birth to Jesus. Another figure of Saint Joseph in
the Old Testament is Joseph, viceroy of Egypt. And they apply to Saint Joseph the text Genesis 41:55
"Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you".
In times of famine, Pharaoh directed the Egyptians
to Joseph so that he would distribute the accumulated wheat in times of abundance
and said: "Go to Joseph". In the same way, God tells us in our problems: "Go to Saint Joseph".
And as Joseph was viceroy of Egypt and the most important of the kingdom after Pharaoh,
so Saint Joseph is the viceroy of the Church, that is, the most important saint of all saints.
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux who lived from 1090 to 1153 says: That Joseph,
sold by the envy of his brothers and taken to Egypt, foreshadowed the sale of Christ:
this Joseph, fleeing from Herod, led Christ to the land of Egypt. That one,
keeping loyalty to his lord, did not want to consent to the evil intent of his wife.
The latter, recognizing his Lady as a virgin, the Mother of his Lord, kept his most faithfully,
preserving himself in chastity. The one was given the intelligence of the mysteries in dreams.
He deserved to be a member of the sovereign mysteries. He reserved the wheat, not for himself,
but for the people. He received the living bread from heaven to keep for himself and
for the whole world. Undoubtedly, this Joseph, to whom the Mother of the Savior was married,
was a good and faithful man.
Pope Blessed Pius IX, on December 8th, 1870, when appointing Saint Joseph patron of the universal Church, said: In a similar way to how
God placed that Joseph, son of the patriarch Jacob, in charge of all the land of Egypt.
In order that he would save wheat for the people, thus, when the fullness of time came, when he was
going to send his only begotten Son Savior of the world to earth, He chose another Joseph,
of whom the first was a type or figure, whom He made master and head of His house
and of His possession, and He chose him as custodian of His principal treasures.
In the same way, Pope Leo XIII, in the encyclical Quamquam pluries, of August 15th, 1889,
says: The opinion is entrenched, in not a few Fathers of the Church,
the sacred liturgy agreeing on it, that that ancient Joseph, born of the patriarch Jacob,
had outlined the person and destinies of this our Joseph and that he had shown with his splendor,
the magnitude of the future custodian of the holy family.
From the first centuries, several holy Fathers had to speak of a young Saint Joseph, and not
an old man and a widower. Saint Jerome defends his virginity in his writing against Helvidius:
You say that Mary was not a virgin; I claim even more for myself, namely, that Joseph himself
was also a virgin through Mary,
so that the virgin Son would be born from the virginal consortium.
In the holy man there was no fornication and it has not been written that he had another woman.
He was more of a custodian of Mary than a husband; from where it follows having
remained a virgin with Mary, who deserved to be called the father of the Lord.
Saint Thomas Aquinas says: It must be believed that Joseph remained a virgin, because it is not
written that he had another woman and infidelity cannot be attributed to such a holy character.
Saint Francis de Sales who lived from 1567 to 1622 says:
Mary and Joseph had made a vow of virginity for the entire time of their lives
and God wanted them to be united by the bond of holy matrimony, not to repent of their vows,
but to confirm more and more and encourage each other together throughout their lives.
Many important saints believe that Joseph had made a vow of virginity before marrying Mary,
but what is certain is that, from his marriage to Mary, he did so to accept the will of God.
The first thing we must consider is that it was a true marriage, even though there was
never a carnal relationship between them.
The Holy Spirit recognizes in the Gospel:
"Joseph, husband of Mary, from whom Jesus was born, called Christ" (Matthew 1:16).
Saint Joseph was a true husband of the Virgin Mary and there was a true marriage between them.
Analyzing the nature of marriage, both Saint Augustine of Hippo and Saint Thomas Aquinas
always place it in the indivisible spiritual union, in the union of hearts, in consent,
elements that in that marriage were manifested in an exemplary way.
At the culminating moment in the history of salvation, when God reveals His love to humanity,
it is precisely the marriage of Mary and Joseph that realizes the spousal gift of Himself in
full freedom,
by welcoming and expressing such love.
Saint Augustine of Hippo says:
Mary belongs to Joseph and Joseph to Mary, so their marriage was a true marriage, because they
have given themselves to each other. But in what sense have they given themselves to each other?
They have given each their virginity and the right to keep it for each other. Mary had the right to
preserve the virginity of Joseph and Joseph had the right to guard the virginity of Mary. Neither
of them can dispose of it and all the fidelity of this marriage consists in preserving virginity.
Saint Augustine of Hippo, considering that Saint Matthew the Apostle writes the genealogy of the
ancestors of Jesus from Joseph, descendant of David, says that God recognizes that it was a
true marriage. Otherwise, it would never have been possible to call Jesus the son of Joseph.
And he says: "Jesus was considered in the genealogy of Joseph
so the faithful would not consider the union of the bodies so important in marriage,
as not to believe themselves married without that bodily union. With this example, it is
magnificently taught to the faithful spouses who also, practicing continence by mutual agreement,
that the marriage can remain as such if affection is reserved, even if there is no sexual union.
Pope Leo XIII said in the encyclical Quamquam pluries of August 1889:
Marriage is the maximum society and friendship, to which by its nature the community of goods is
united.
God has given Joseph to Mary, not only as a life partner but also as a witness to her
virginity.
Marriage is the highest consortium and friendship.
It follows that God has given
Joseph as a husband to the Virgin not only as a life partner, a witness to her virginity,
but also to participate with her through the conjugal pact in her exalted greatness.
Saint Joseph and the Virgin Mary joined their hearts like two stars that never link,
while their light rays intersect in space.
It was a marriage similar to what happens
in the spring between flowers, which join their perfumes, or two musical instruments that join
their melodies in unison, forming one.
As Pope Leo XIII said:
Their marriage
was consummated with Jesus.
Mary and Joseph were united with Jesus.
Mary and Joseph thought only of Jesus.
Deeper love has not been nor will there ever be on this earth.
Saint Joseph renounced the paternity of blood, but found it in the spirit, because he was the
adoptive father of Jesus.
The Virgin renounced her motherhood and found it in her own virginity.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.